The Snaresbrook Caspian Gull

I didn't see the well-watched Caspian Gull at Eagle Pond, Snaresbrook, last winter, so was pleased to hear that Jamie Partridge had picked it up again on Sunday. I went over to see it at lunchtime today, meeting Jamie there, who'd helpfully brought a couple of loaves with him.

The structure and demeanour of this bird looks identical to a first-winter that spent winter 15/16 at nearby Wanstead Flats (photos here) and is thus presumed to be the same individual which has subsequently taken up winter residence at Eagle Pond. It looked really good in its first winter and looks fantastic now; it would have been interesting to see this bird in second-winter plumage, which is sometimes the most distinctive of all, as I suspect it must have been a real beauty.

Curiously, the Casp is often the only large gull on the pond. There are occasional visits from the odd Herring or Lesser Black-backed but the Casp was the only to hang around while I was there, bullying the Black-headed and Common Gulls over the bread offerings. It was always on show during the hour I spent on site, although it does apparently wander to nearby Hollow Pond on occasion.

4cy Caspian Gull, Snaresbrook, London, 26 November 2018