Dear Birders,
I was in Darwin on Thursday looking for the Black-headed Gull seen during the
previous week or so at Stokes Hill wharf. I had arranged to meet Darryel Binns,
(aka Biggles), who had first found the bird, at 5:00pm at the wharf. The wharf
is a good place to eat cheaply in Darwin and the Gull seems to know this and
regularly turns up at around 5:00 to scavenge spare chips!
I arrived a bit early and was greeted by a birder who introduced himself as Ian
and his wife as Joan sorry I forgot their surnames). He had his bins out and
was also looking to twitch the gull. Shortly thereafter Biggles and his wife
Deidre turned up. There were no gulls around of any type though a few Crested
Terns were flitting around. I went to the end of the wharf and looked across to
another unconnected wharf and noticed a small flock of terns and the heads of 2
gulls. The gulls were tucked in behind a timber edging to the wharf. I called
the others over and we waited in the hope that the gulls would eventually show
themselves. Fortunately it was not too long before a guy got off one of the
tugs moored beside the other wharf and walked along the wharf causing the gulls
to move. The first gull was clearly a Silver Gull and the second had a white
head and was too far away to easily see the bill in detail. Then it took off
and displayed the characteristic white leading edges to the wings and the
juvenile characteristic of a black band on the tail. Both birds took off and
roosted out of site so we sat down at a table and ordered a few beers and a
plate of Barramundi each.
While we waited for the fish Xenia Dennett and Sue Abbotts hove into sight also
on the twitch. I hailed them and told them of our sighting and after a brief
unproductive look around they sat down with the rest of the group for a chat.
When the meals arrived a few strategically thrown chips soon had both gulls
and a group of terns competing for the spoils right in front of our table. What
a wonderful way to twitch a new bird. Sitting with friends on a sunny evening
that was not too hot enjoying a delicious and very economical meal washed down
with a good beer while the bird swooped and chased the terns right in front of
one.
I was a bit surprised that the bird had an all white head. Black-headed Gull,
in the basic phase both as an adult and a juvenile, typically has a black spot
in front of the eye and a black ear patch. This bird now has neither however
the wing pattern, the red bill with a black tip and the tail-band suggested a
juvenile Black-headed Gull. Biggles advises that the bird did have the black
facial marks when first seen so it will be very interesting to see how the
present mould progresses if the bird sticks around in Darwin. I presume that
the bird is moulting into second winter plumage but has not yet progressed to
change the tail feathers carrying the juvenile black band. "Gulls of Europe,
Asia and North America" by Olsen and Larsson says aberrant Black-headed Gulls
include birds in which have "Winter head white with faint grey or pale brown
ear-spot or indications of normal pattern; sometimes all white".
And why a "shiver" of twitchers. Following the recent thread on twitchers there
obviously has to be a collective noun for twitchers. Given the origins of the
term twitcher, deriving from a couple of British birders who chased rare birds
on a motorbike and arrived shaking with cold, a "shiver" of twitchers has a
nice ring to it!
regards
Peter
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