Glaucous Gull

A few posts back I predicted that the latest date for a 'white-winger' at Shawell would be beaten this year. April 15th 2017 was the latest sighting to date. Steve Nichols and I recorded two Iceland Gull on Saturday,  but that was only the 14th. I received a text from Steve this afternoon with photos of a Glaucous Gull he'd found in the sandpit off Gibbet Lane. Steve had broken the record, but I wanted to share in the fun, so I went over to Shawell after work.

There was no sign of any 'white-wingers' in the sandpit, but there was plenty of gulls, so there was a chance it would return. I noticed a large flock of gulls circling above the landfill and amongst them I could see a very white gull. Luckily it headed for the sandpit where it joined the resting gulls. It was a second calendar-year Glaucous Gull - pale tip to its bill, but its wings are very pristine and so only a youngster.

Eventually I was a able to enjoy a fly past of this massive beast and also close infront of it was the regular juvenile Iceland Gull.

Second Calendar-Year  Glaucous Gull, Shawell April 16th 2018

Second Calendar-Year Glaucous Gull, Shawell April 16th 2018

Second Calendar-Year Glaucous Gull, Shawell April 16th 2018

Second Calendar-Year Iceland Gull, Shawell April 16th 2018