Abstract
The first record of Kelp Gull in Britain has been long predicted and, although its discovery was perhaps unexpected at an inland site, it appeared with an influx of Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis, which likely acted as a ‘carrier species’ from North Africa and Iberia. Though it was widely suggested that it could be assigned to the South African subspecies ‘Cape Gull’ L. d. vetula, this was not the conclusion of the finder nor BBRC/BOURC.This largely Southern Hemisphere gull species is kept rarely in captivity and is becoming more regular in the Northern Hemisphere with extralimital breeding occurring in Senegal and Morocco in recent years, and a spate of records further north from Spain, Portugal and France.Five subspecies are recognized breeding in South America, Southern Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, South Atlantic islands and Antarctica.