I decided to do a bit of 'gulling' today along the Milford Haven Waterway from Neyland to Gelliswick. What stood out was the sheer lack of gulls: amazing the decline just in the 35 years or so that I've been living and birding here. One of the reasons is the improvement to sewage treatment infrastructure, long gone are the days when big flocks of gulls were feeding at the outfalls at Neyland, Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven. Also the general decline in the use of Milford Haven docks for fishing boats, barely 40 gulls there today.
Anyway, highlight was a Skokholm ringed juvenile (2nd calendar year) Great Black-backed Gull. W:479 will have been ringed as a pullus last year, it will be interesting to know if it has been seen anywhere else since fledging. Details will be sent to the Skokholm wardens shortly.
Finally...seeing gulls at places like this is a great opportunity to study plumage and feather detail up close. Can you tell your scapulars from your greater coverts?!
.JPG)