Mediterranean Gull returns locally

I've been popping into Burgess Park a few times over the last month, in the hope that the annually returning Mediterranean Gull would put in an appearance. I've usually seen it by the end of November, but a couple of years ago it turned up into December. So when the first slice of bread was hurled out, the distinctive 'awk' call made me look up and smile... it was back again. For anyone fussed, it's the small lake just off the Old Kent Road; park on Cobourg Road. I got asked 'are you a fed?' yesterday, so do be prepared for Joe Public and/or wannabe gangsters.

adult Mediterranean Gull at Burgess Park, Camberwell, London 7th December 2014

I first found this bird in November 2008, when it was a 2nd-winter, so by my calculations that makes it 7 years old - born in 2007, presumably somewhere a fair way away from London! My only ringed Med Gull seen locally (in Greenwich a couple of years ago) came from Poland and a previous Inner London wintering Med Gull had been ringed in Germany.

On a less pleasant note, the lake at Burgess Park was rife Egyptian Geese - 24 in total, my peak count for the site by a long way. Heinous monsters that look better on the Nile in the sunshine.