Gull Conference, Peterhead, Aberdeen, 26th Feb-1 Mar 2009

Martin Collinson's comment in his opening talk set the scene: ‘‘If you think you understand, you haven't been paying attention’'. I went in thinking I knew a little bit about gulls, and came out thinking I know next to nothing! Still, a fantastic few days, with both the talks and field birding both excellent. Talks focussed less on ID than expected and as hoped, but still presented new information, plus existing information in new ways. The racial ID and distribution of Lesser Black-backed Gulls is still a hot topic, as demonstrated by the number of talks devoted to the species. Stand out talk for me was by Martin Garner on new frontiers in Gull ID although the 1.5 hour epic (each speaker given 30mins!) deserves a mention. Looking forward to next one (in Crete!).