Gull Action

As promised, I got out to do my first bit of birding in absolutely ages today. My aim was to attempt to try and see the Glaucous Gull down by the Harbour at Torry near my local patch, Girdleness, and then head up to Peterhead to see if I could photograph the Iceland Gulls that have been there. The day proved to be partly successful, but not entirely. Luckily, it was successful on the Glaucous Gull front, as, unlike Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull would be a year tick for me. The Glaucous Gull was first seen a week ago, and as it continued to be reported I enquired into the best places to look for it. By today, I was fully 'genned up', and knew exactly the best places to check, which proved to be a big advantage. At around 9:30am I arrived down at Torry, and proceeded to check the area that I was aware it had been seen in. I started checking on the bridge across from Aberdeen to Torry (the Victoria Bridge), where a whole row and mix of Herring and Lesser-Black-Backed Gulls indolently hugged the rocky shoreline and 2 Goosanders + a Goldeneye were fishing. However, there was no sign of the Glaucous Gull. Next port of call was the other place it had been seen regularly, on top of a big white warehouse marked 'ASCO' at the junction between two roads called Crombie Road and Sinclair Road.

On approach, I noticed a group of gulls sitting on it. I scanned them, and hey presto, there was the Glaucous Gull, right at the front of the group, alertly looking from left to right. As I got closer, I couldn't see it's whole body due to the height of the warehouse, but I could see the pale, pink bill with the dark tip and the general cafe-au-lait colour of the bird. Eventually I got too close, and it flew out of view, showing the very pale wing tips as it did so. I continued to walk around the area, hoping to come across it again, and I did on the nearby Sinclair Road about 10 minutes later when I flushed it, with very good views as it flew by in a lumbering fashion. Having had very good views, I was now hoping for photos. I did another circuit of the area, returning back to Sinclair Road, where I sighted it sitting stone still on top of stone, medium height pillar. I slowly approached it, and managed to get within 20ft of it, photographing it and getting my best views of it. It sat there for a couple of minutes, before it was spooked by an articulated lorry. I didn't see it again unfortunately, but I was very satisified with my views and glad with my photos. A very valuable year-tick and a lovely bird to see - only my second Glaucous Gull ever. Below are a few of my photos of it, including it in flight. The light wasn't all too good, so sorry if they appear a bit dark.

Glaucous Gull, Torry, Aberdeen (12/12/10)

After a satisfying start to the day, I was hoping the trend of success would continue at Peterhead. We were there by about 11:30am, and I arrived in the area where they are usually seen, right at the heart of the harbour, to find that there were very few gulls around at all. The time I had seen the Iceland Gulls before, there had been hundreds of gulls in the Harbour. I checked the area for about 20 minutes, then decided that I'd slowly meander along the seaside road through Peterhead and check the gulls on the rocks there. I found several groups of gulls and scoped each of them, but none of them contained Iceland Gulls. After some lunch, we headed back to where we had started off, but yet again there weren't any Iceland Gulls. I was disappointed, but I reassured myself that I could return in January, as it is likely they will winter, and if I saw them then I could try photographing them, and also year-tick them. One thing that always entertains me when at Peterhead Harbour is how tame these little fellas are - this one was only a few feet away from where I was standing...

Turnstone, Peterhead Harbour (12/12/10)

There wasn't much else to do, so I headed down to the Ythan to have a casual check of the Estuary and have a walk in nearby the coastal moor of Forvie NNR. On arrival I met Ken Hall, and we chatted for about 20 minutes, enjoying the tranquility of the Estuary and discussing several photographic and bird-related things. There wasn't too much on the Estuary, with the most notable things being about 35 Dunlins and 70 Golden Plovers. Whilst speaking, it was lovely to witness these three majestic Mute Swans flying very close past us...

Mute Swans, Ythan Estuary (12/12/10)

Once I had spoken to Ken, I had a small walk on Forvie Moor, which produced more or less nothing. However, I went home satisified with the views and shots of Glaucous Gulls I had obtained - a day-maker in its own right.

Thanks for reading,

Joseph