Feeding frenzy

We had our first decent snowfall this morning, although this is relative, as there's only about 6cm of lying snow, a tiny amount compared to what many of you have experienced.

Having topped up the feeders and the water bowl, there were plenty of birds in the garden, including at least fifteen blackbirds. Pete spotted a few seagulls scouting around, so we put out some bread to see if they would come down. Under normal conditions seagulls very rarely visit the garden, because it's too wooded and enclosed. There are always plenty around on the nearby recreation ground, and we've seen them go down into gardens with larger lawns.

After a few minutes a mob of seagulls came down, squabbling over the crusts. Of course, I didn't have the right lens on my camera. Having changed lenses and found a suitable window with a good view, Pete threw some more bread out. Nothing happened! I hung around in Ben's bedroom for some time, shivering at the open window, but still no seagulls. Eventually I gave up and went downstairs to see what was on the other feeders. Of course, as soon as I wasn't in position, down they swooped. I managed to grab a few shots through the (rather dirty) patio doors but unfortunately the view was partly obscured by vegetation.

There were a few passable shots, but I liked this one best because it shows two species of gull. The majority of the scrum are young black-headed gulls. However the somewhat blurry gull taking off is a juvenile common gull (first winter) and the large gull in the foreground is a second winter common gull. This is the first time we've ever recorded this species in the garden - perhaps a sign of how hard conditions are at the moment.

Probably better in large.