Pennington Flash

The adult Iceland gull and adult Mediterranean gull were again in the roost at Pennington Flash this evening. 

I sometimes wonder why I bother with the roost, most of the birds come in at sunset when the light is fading fast and they're always distant. It's a race against time, you've got perhaps 20 minutes in wind or rain or icy temperatures to scan through 3000 large gulls in amongst 5000 black-headed gulls. It's a great spectacle for sure, to see so many gulls dropping on to the water and to watch the 2000 strong jackdaw murmuration at Sorrowcow farm, but it's very difficult to pick out anything other than white winged gulls and I have no expectation of picking out a Caspian or yellow-legged gull these days. 

There is always the chance of a glaucous or Kumlien's gull joining the throng, but I only need one dose of this medicine every week or so on a carefully selected evening, I certainly don't need to experience it day after day in all weathers, watching the same birds that I saw last night and the night before, birds which I know that I could see much better if I went to Cutacre CP or a local recycling centre.