Tuesday 25 November 2014

CASPIAN GULLS at Getlini, Riga, Latvia, 21st, 22nd & 23rd November 2014

Riga, Latvia, 3 Day trip.

Friday, 21st November, 2014

03.00 hours, I picked Mick up at Dartford, Kent
departed from Stansted with Ryan-air to arrive Riga Airport, Latvia,
into car hire, 25 kilometre drive, we arrive at Getlini Landfill site at midday.

Getlini Landfill is the largest landfill in Latvia, a mini mountain of refuse,
c 500 feet high, it's vast, from the top, you look down to the tops of trees way down below you ! !

Mick has done all the homework and got us access to this site to check out

''Caspian Gulls''

Drivers Licence required for ID check and sign the visitors book and we pass security and are allowed to drive to the top of this ''mountain'', a muddy road, must be a mile long, climbing to the top, where all the Gull action is ! !

It is 0 Degrees C, it snowed last night !
It is dull light, the wind, sleet / snow, although not strong, means sit in the car and view from one side with windows open only ! ! !

There are 1000's of Herring Gull everywhere, all around you, every direction you look,
1000's and 1000's of Herring Gull ! ! ! !
It's crazy feeding frenzy of activity, constant movement of 1000's of Herring Gull, it's mental ! ! !

Day 2 and 3, no wind, no snow, Mick is out of the car, daylight (09.30 hours) to last light (16.00 hours), he is on a mission to see ''every Caspian'' out there ! ! ! !

see Micks blog for more detail info

http://birdingthedayaway.blogspot.co.uk/

my ID skills in this close magnitude of Gulls is ZERO ! ! ! !


HERRING GULL,  8,000+, (could be 10,000), and we are parked up in the middle of them ! !

Black-headed Gull, 1, (Day 1)
Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3/4 seen each day
Yellow-legged Gull, 1, (Day 1)  (scarce bird in Latvia) Image 1. ? ?
Herring Gull,  omissus-type, (yellow-legged)
Caspian Gull

Jackdaw, c 1000, off both Nordic and European
Crow, 100's
Tree Sparrow, 40 +
House Sparrow, lots of
Raven, many,  (fly by and on lower ground)


Yellow-legged Gull, adult winter ? ?



Herring Gull, omissus-type, (yellow-legged)

















Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1st winter



Caspian Gull, 1st winter  (1)


Caspian Gull, 1st winter  (2)




Caspian Gull, adult winter




Only 4 ring nos seen, 3 photographed

Herring Gull, 1st winter, 3L4X


Herring Gull, 1st winter, 7L1T


Herring Gull, 1st winter, S433


Jackdaw, Nordic race



Mick out there on his mission ! !

action from the car

out in the field



Day 3, Sunday, 16.00 daylight finished,

We head off to Riga Airport

Depart Latvia, arrive Stansted, drop Mick off home at 01.00 hours. 

A simply ''STUNNING'' weekend ! ! ! !

Monday 17 November 2014

Dungeness, 1st, 8th, 15th, 16th November, 2014

1st November, 2014

By the Fishing Boats, 13.30 hours - 16.30 hours

Sanderling





Herring Gull, 1st winter



Herring Gull, adult



Common Guillemot


...............................................................................

Saturday, 8th November, 2014

Dungeness, ''by the puddles'', 14.00 hours - 16.30 hours


Yellow-legged Gull, 1st winter





Lesser-Black-backed Gull, 1st winter





H8FT


A7SW


RX3.T


P1BT




..........................................................

15th, November

By the puddles, 13.30 - 16.00 hours


Black-headed Gull




5AA1


JZ088


H8FT






...............................................................................

16th November,

by the fishing boats

Black-headed Gull











Herring Gull











Great Black-backed Gull