Glaucous Gull...8th March, 2014

There has been more than one Glaucous at West Bexington recently but I hadn't gotten around to making the effort to try and see one so on Saturday, with a couple of hours to spare, I thought I'd put that straight. I've seen loads of these in Canada and here before but they are such impressive gulls in size and build - you have to love them. I arrived early at the West Bexington car park and immediately noticed groups of large gulls scattered to the east and west. Being short on time I plumped for the group to the east as they were slightly closer and walking on shingle has never been high on my list of 'must do' experiences. After about 400 metres I was close enough to the first group to get a clear view and could see this adult even without bins:

Glaucous Gull: R. Harris

...and a short video clip too

What a beauty! After 5 minutes it departed with a group of herring gulls west along the shoreline and out of sight somewhere near Cogden Beach. Satisfied and with only 20 minutes to spare, I decided to head home. Later that day 3 glaucous were reported, 2 adults and a younger bird - probably among the groups settled to the west. Lovely birds.