3/02/12
After having only brief views of the Iceland Gull the previous friday i wasnt really happy, sure i'd ticked the bird for the year, but there was something not quite right, I fancied another Look.
After having only brief views of the Iceland Gull the previous friday i wasnt really happy, sure i'd ticked the bird for the year, but there was something not quite right, I fancied another Look.
We accidently arrived at the dam end of the reservior, but quickly found this to be to our advantage, with many of the small gulls alot closer in, however, the large gulls again seemed in the middle of the water. However i was soon scanning 70% of the thousands of gulls (the remaining 30% were into the setting sun),
and after about 20 mins, at 4:55, just as i was saying to a visiting birder that Iceland Gulls had been seen, i panned onto a white winger.
A 2nd winter ICELAND GULL
I quickly get the rest of the 'crowd' onto the bird, of which for one of them it was a lifer!
The light was still Ok, with it being perfect for a gull roost, and i was able to take a long range, shakey video of our white winged beauty!
This bird was quite easy to point out, as it spent the whole time near to the yellow boyd in the water.
However, as time went by, it became more and more obvious the there seemed to be two different birds in two areas of the flock, however it took untill 5:12 for me to confirm this, when both birds appeared within my scope, and i was able to get this image containing both of them!
My first double 'white-winger' day!
Now wheres my Glauc?
MB
5 comments:
I agree, Craig, White-wingers are always worth a second look. And 2 of em at that. Great find.
Goodness me you have some patience going through all of those Gulls Craig!
Congrats on your two White-wingers!
Hi Craig,
I know I haven't commented on this blog for a long time, but I am still keeping up to date with how your getting on and I must say you've had an awesome time locally, well done! Many congratulations particularly on finding those Iceland Gulls, stonking birds.
Aberdeenshire is full of Iceland Gulls at the moment, there were 13 at Peterhead yesterday which was mind-blowing. I've accounted the day on my new blog, which is linked below. I've added your blog to my blogroll; if you feel like doing the same or want to give any feedback that would be much appreciated.
http://aberdeenshireyoungbirder.wordpress.com/
Keep up the good work mate and all the best,
Joseph
Dean- They are, Ive got a 'thing' with white wingers (and med gull(which has got white wingtips in adult tbh)), and to get 2 at the same time was great. Thanks
Pam- An hour scanning thousands of Gulls is an hour well spent in my book! Thankyou
Joseph- Glad to see your 'keeping up', ive been doing the same with you blog, but i rarely have time to comment with so much work to be doing atm, and was very impressed with you Iceland Gull pictures, they are very good! Guessing they were with a DSLR? and if so how close must they have been for frame filling shots?
I do envy you atm, just hearing about the huge numbers of white wingers up in aberdeenshire is insane!
And your pic of Iceland, Glauc and Kumliens, words dont explain!
Added you to blog links now :)
Cheers
MB
Hi Craig,
Re the photos, I use a Canon 40D + Canon 400mm setup. With the shots on my blog many of the birds were too close for me to fill the frame as you say, astonishing stuff . From this experience I've learnt the key to bring white-wingers coast is to buy a loaf of bread beforehand; which is why some of these birds came as close as they did (15-20ft).
Yeah, it was unreal when they were all on the rocks together. It really is just insane, a memory of a liftetime tbh. I'm glad your getting some down your way too, makes winter birding all the more enjoyable for us all. No worries about commenting at all, life is invariably busy tbh. Thanks for the blog add, will continue to keep up to date with your birding.
Cheers,
Joseph
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