The Black-headed Gull, often seen in flight over the Reserve, often causes confusion due to the variety of changing plumage. In Summer, the black head is in reality chocolate brown forming a hood stretching down the nape and broken only by a white ring round the eye. The beak, legs and feet are a deep blood-red. In Winter, the brown hood is lost and replaced by white plumage with a small grey-brown smudge behind the eye, with the beak and legs showing as a muddier red colour.
