A juvenile Kumlien's Gull off Mudbank late this afternoon. Unfortunately it was never close and, as the tide raced in, it moved further out. A hefty individual - appearing longer legged and heavier billed than Iceland Gull. In fact, my main concern was ruling out a leucistic Herring Gull. It showed darker outer primaries and a pretty well-marked tail band as well as a pink-based, blackish bill, lightly-scalloped scaps and pale pink legs. It moved on to Cockle Sands, then fed off Shelly Beach and was last seen by Kev, flying out to sea. Also off there this afternoon - 2 Eider and a Greenshank. Three Cirl Buntings remain on the Imperial recreation ground.
Hi Matt great find on Friday it was a shame I didnt know about this bird as I was on my way back with Stuartline Cruises and 122 pairs of eyes looking at several Sanderling a female Eider on Bull Hill and Cockle Sands and searching for the Northern Diver so probably missed the White Wing by 10 minutes. By the look at your photos we would probably have seen it... always next time!! see you soon
ReplyDeleteHi Derek - you must have a poor phone signal out there on the river. I left you a message and it went out on the WhatsApp group. Having said that I'm not sure you'd have necessarily seen it. It was distant for me but very much further away from the channel that you follow on the boat. I'm guessing that even had it been visible the views wouldn't have been great. The light was poor too so it was really hard to pick out when it was on the water off Cockle Sands. The last one we had, back in 2014, did hang around so I guess there's a chance it'll appear again. Fingers crossed. All the best. Matt.
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