The Glaucous Gull

Hello


Many people will know that I enjoy watching gulls! Big, bold and beautiful they are frequently an identification challenge and there aren't many places in the world where they don't inhabit or visit. For many, the idea of watching gulls or 'sea-gulls' if you like is a big turn-off - they tend not to sing beautifully, they can regularly be found at landfill sites, sewer works, ports, industrial sites and other such delightful places, some are predatory and of course some have developed a tendency to mug holiday makers of ice creams!


Anyway whilst in Iceland I was hoping we would see some 'white-winged gulls', a small group of species which tend to visit the British Isles during the winter months in varying numbers and one of the reasons why some of us (sad!) birders go visiting landfill sites (the few that are left) and reservoir roost sites during the short days of winter in the hope of seeing one.


In Iceland we saw small numbers of Iceland Gulls (which strangely enough don't normally breed there) and rather larger numbers of the Glaucous Gulls (which do breed there). At one particular small town harbour we came across a fishing boat that was off-loading its catch of fish and not surprisingly this activity attracted a large number of gulls hoping to take advantage. The most numerous gull around the boat and pier was the Glaucous Gull...


Regards


Neil M

Bold, intelligent and in
stunning plumage with a
beautiful soft grey upperside,
pure white wing-tips and no
dark feathers anywhere, these
large, ghostly gulls are generally
a little larger than Herring Gulls
and only just a little smaller than
 most Great Black-backed Gulls.
All these images relate to adult
birds which are likely to be at least
 five years old. It is likely that picture
 seven (head shot) relates to a male bird
with a large bill and more the proportions
 of a Great Black-backed Gull...