Wintersett Sun 26th Oct 2014 - Gulls start in earnest

The major event of the daytime was a passage of Pin-footed Geese between 08.10 and 09.00 hrs, with a total of 650 birds moving east in 7 skeins.

Four Siskin were in Haw Park, along with 2 Nuthatches.

With the clocks going back, the gull roost watches can start in earnest at the end of the normal birding day, instead of an additional evening visit.

A first-winter Med Gull flew from the Country Park to the Top Res at 14.55 hrs. A phenomenal number of large gulls were in the Country Park roost for the time of year with the following counts:-

Lesser-black Backed Gull - 404
Herring Gull - 280
Great Black-backed Gull - 61
Yellow-legged Gull - 2 adults and a second winter.

I've only had a quick scan through the archives but I can't see anything even approaching the Herring & GBB numbers in October before.