Glorious gulling

With varying degrees of reliability, the Upper Cherwell Valley, N/NE of Banbury has produced some decent numbers of big gulls in recent years during the winter months.

Considerable quantities of cattle feed, put out by the local farmer appear to be the main draw, in some years pulling in 100s of birds to the fields along the A361 Banbury - Daventry road, both sides of the Oxon/Northants border.

This current late autumn / early winter period appears to be the most productive yet, with stacks of large gulls lingering in the area for several weeks, creating some welcome interest. While the gulls tend to feed in the valley cattle fields, they also come to the relatively small Borrow Pit by the M40 to bathe, allowing excellent views.

Numbers began to build from around the 2nd week of November onwards and Gareth B began picking up multiple Caspian Gulls, a big deal for the humble Grimsbury / Borrow Pit patch!

Keen for a slice of the action, I proposed a family walk down to the Borrow Pit on the afternoon of 13/11! Great numbers of gulls were on show and luckily, I managed to pick out a very smart 3w Caspian Gull. But before I could see anything more, a dog walker flushed the lot!

Keen to dedicate more time to the gulls than a fleeting walk, I freed myself up on the morning of Sunday 28/11, joining Gareth at the Borrow Pit. We did very well, picking out 3 Caspian Gulls in total - x1 1st-winter, x1 3rd winter and an adult; plus several Yellow-Legged Gulls.

Then, on Sunday 05/12 - I spent a brilliant couple of hours again at the Borrow Pit with Gareth and Mike Pollard et al. Despite the very 'fresh' and breezy conditions, we picked out SIX Caspian Gulls in total, made up of x3 1st-winters, x1 3w and 2 adults (all below). The most Caspos I've had locally at any one time, by quite some distance!

Around about 7+ Yellow-Legged Gulls were also noted.