Rainham 2nd winter Kumlien’s

In another brief venture out today, managed to time my arrival at the Rainham Stone Barges just right to coincide with the 2nd winter Kumlien’s Gull that Dominic had found a little earlier on, up on the tip. First one of these I’ve ever seen, and (in this case) pretty striking – in addition to the prominent grey/brown wash to the primaries visible in these pics, there was also a really obvious grey/brown tail-band, which you can just make out underneath the wingtips in the first shot. It was also rather robust for an Iceland, with a slightly boxier head shape and perhaps a slightly stronger bill than typical glaucoides? The undertail had a notably brown suffusion, too. Unfortunately, these are all quite heavy crops, and I didn’t manage any flight shots, but with luck Dom will have some better shots to post later.

I also had brief views of a 1st winter Iceland Gull, while others saw an adult and a 2nd winter Iceland, and a probable adult Kumliens. So five white-wingers in the area, by my reckoning. Or even maybe six if you include this guy:

I didn’t get the ring details, but it’s almost certainly the London birders’ old friend, SH1T – a leucistic Herring Gull, if you were still wondering. Proof that ringers definitely have a sense of humour…