Mediterranean Gull

With the short days and poor weather recently opportunities to get out and take some photos have been fairly limited.  Today (December 22nd) was exception so I got an chance to see if the recent storms had deposited anything new locally in Limerick City.  I picked up a first winter Mediterranean Gull on the pond at Healy's Field in Corbally.  This site attracts small numbers of roosting gulls and on occasions can also have a  a range of waterfowl. Several Shoveler, Mallard, Coot and smaller numbers of Tufted Duck, Mute Swans and Little Grebes were also present.   A Chiffchaff feeding in the willows at the edge of the marsh was a nice additional extra.

First winter Mediterranean Gull

Shoveler

 

Mallard

There were good numbers of Herring Gulls, mostly juveniles and sub-adults, and smaller numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls along the Shannon between Thomond Weir and O'Callaghan's Strand but no signs of any white-winged gulls.  As expected the annually returning Ring-billed Gull showed up at the latter site.

Adult Ring-billed Gull