On Monday afternoon a large gull showing characters of Caspian was with other gulls in the wet field N of the lane at Llanwenarth- darker grey back than Herring Gulls, elongated structure with long wings, pear-shaped head sloping into a long, parallel-sided bill, dark-looking eye in an (almost) unstreaked white head. The bird was a subadult/3rd winter with a few black spots on the tertials (also apparently a Caspian feature), leg and bill colour dull greenish-yellow, bill with a prominent black band near the tip. Details of wing-tip pattern were not visible, nor was the leg-length due to long grass. An adult Yellow-legged gull was also present, loosely associating with the ‘Caspian’. With extralimital Caspian there is always the possibility of a hybrid, but based on the books and feedback received by observers with experience of the species this bird seems to be a strong candidate for a pure bred male Caspian. It wasn’t present yesterday but it might be worth a look at groups of large gulls in case it’s still in the area (for gull obsessives!)
