Lesser Black-backed Gull

Another beautiful sunny day with a sharp frost this morning, though I fear we may not see the sunshine again for a few days. I'd promised Rosie an early morning walk, so we headed down to the river, only to find our favourite route still flooded. We found some dry alternative paths and had a pleasant potter, with stops for me to take macros of frost droplets and bokeh.

We finally reached the main river at the rusty bridge, and stopped to watch the gulls. This is a favourite gathering place for black-headed gulls, but today there were also a juvenile common gull and two lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus. This species is always around in small numbers during the winter, but is often quite wary of humans and only seen flying or in the far distance. This individual was quite bold and noisy - the image was taken just towards the end of a call, which is why you can see the steam coming out of its beak. I believe this is a new addition to the BlipBigYear list.

On my way back to the car I was distracted by conversations about photography with three people. Once I used to feel shy carrying a camera with a big lens on the front, but now I find its quite a conservation piece! The last couple I spoke to were delighted that I pointed out the common seal to them, who's still living in the Rowing Lake!

The afternoon was spent in town with Alex and Ben. They had lunch from a Noodle Bar, and we sat in the sun while they ate it, surrounded by pigeons and shoppers. I spotted quite a few interesting characters, but I just don't feel comfortable with photographing strangers. I had been thinking of going out to photograph the barn owls at dusk, but we arrived home a little bit late and as I feel I'm fighting off a cold I decided to leave it for another day.