Yellow-legged Gull

The Caspian Gull attracted lots of birders to Limerick in the past two weeks.  The extra coverage unearthed some interesting new birds, including two new Yellow-legged Gulls following on from the third winter bird that I found at Corbally on 27/12/16.

First up was a fine looking adult bird at Thomond Weir on 17/1/17 found by Dermot Breen, the sixth record for the County (see shots on Dermot's blog site).

This was followed by a first winter bird found by Harry Hussey et al. at O'Callaghan's Strand on 22/1/17.  This bird, the seventh record for the County, has been by far the most approacable so far, allowing some good photo opportunities.

Standing in centre with similarly aged Herring Gulls

A few shots of the Corbally bird, the fifth County record, are included below.

Caspian Gull

Life ticks don't come along too often, especially out of the migration season, so it's a nice surprise when one turns up on your doorstep.  So it was with the second winter Caspian Gull that Geoff Hunt came across at O'Callaghan's Strand on 15/1/2017.  I had previously seen what was initially thought to be a second winter Caspian Gull in Tallaght in March 2014, however this bird is now considered to be a hybrid of some form.

This bird is a first record for Limerick and with 13 previously accepted records in Ireland it is potentially the 14th for the Country.  It also seems to be the first record of this plumage phase in Ireland as well.