More Glaucous hunting...

Was a lovely frosty, sunny day when I woke up and I just couldn't resist going out. I decided to check out the fish factory in Dingwall again for the Glaucous Gull thats still hanging around and maybe get some better record shots.

I arrived about half 10ish and I locked on to the gull straight away, showing well on the fish factory roof. Unfortunately though the harsh light from the sun at it's current angle meant that attempting photos was a bit pointless. All the gulls looked like dark silhouettes, so I decided to spend some time at Ferry Point and come back later on.

The views from the point were stunning in the sunshine, tide was pretty much all the way out. A single Redwing was calling from the top of one of the trees which is my first this year as was a Grey Heron round the corner near the shore. There were the ususal numbers of Wigeon, Redshank and Dunlin with all the gulls and a Little Grebe at the river mouth. Large numbers of Geese, c2000, kept coming and going whilst I was there which is spectacular to watch when they all take off together. Another year tick was 6 Whooper Swans that could be seen on the other side of the firth. Curlew and Oystercatcher also present. A pleasant morning and by now it was 12.30 and I headed back to the fish factory.

The angle of the sun was a bit less harsh now and the Glaucous was almost still in the same place on the fish factory roof. I started taking some snaps and I managed to at least get some half decent record shots this time with different profiles instead of just head-on shots like last time which is no help for ID. After watching it for half an hour and looking over the pictures I'm fairly confident it is a 1st-winter bird.

Posing nicely for plumage detail shot.

1st-winter Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

So some beautiful weather, some half decent shots of the Glaucous and 3 year ticks, a good morning I would say.