Best Record Shot Ever!

Better even than 'Osprey inna tree', I give you what flew south past Hope's Nose, Sunday at 1744;

Wow!

Can you see it? Just below the middle. It's flying right, and has its wings raised, so all you can really see is the body [a bit], but mostly the underwing coverts contrasting with the raised primaries, standing out shining white.

Given it away?

Only a frickin' 2cy Glonk!!!!
[That's a Glaucous Gull, hatched last year]

If I'd been looking through my camera ten seconds earlier instead of my scope, you'd have an insane full spread wing profile of this beauty. But life isn't fair, so you get this. With the dusk, the wind, and the mood said camera was in, I'm amazed I got anything, really..

[[Pedants; Observe the white primaries raised; no Med or leucistic Herring has that pointed shape, only Glaucous or Iceland 1st winter. Observe the shortness of the hand and especially the breadth of the arm, no Iceland shows that. Thank you. Also, I. Saw. The. Bill. No Iceland, Med or leucistic Herring has a bubblegum pink spear with neat black tip!]]

Here's some less fancy gulls;

You get the idea?

But, what was he doing there so late?? And watching from that odd spot?

Well....


I had Things to do on Friday. Then Saturday I had to go off doing things too. Yes, in all that rain. It was fun.
Sunday, I had plans. Plans involving getting there not tooo early, but early enough that I'd be on station when it cleared and the hoped-for exodus came.

Plans which met reality - which doesn't care if you believe it - and well, I ended up walking to the Nose [in a spirit of self-flagellation] late afternoon and plonking down where I was out of the wind [ish] and in view of both flyway and slick. Second slope.
Ok, plonking down after I'd fended off a very over-friendly border collie called Bob, but that's another story.


Gannets flying about and a few gulls in attendence to the SWBCM;

Bye-bye Dennis

Gulls!

Unfortunately, head-on gulls. In fading light. Not easy.

How many spp. can you see?

Herrings - obviously - GBB, BHG, Common Gull... any more..?? That dark one in the middle looks very 2cy LBB, doesn't it?

Eventually, they started breaking off and flying past [presumably to roost somewhere*] and gave me a shot at better pics. Ho ho.

My evil possessed camera decided it wasn't feeling helpful, so it got a bit blue-tinged. Especially when it pulled the old 'I won't even take a picture' routine.. Grr.

Gulls with dark bodies and contrasting pale heads.

Note dark bills and wide primary windows.

[Compare with ID Challenge 2, say]

Left bird again,

note size compared to the Herring on the right;

it's a 2cy GBB

Always another Herring

About the same range as the Glonk

Speaking of, I of course jumped up and raced after it, but gulls, especially good ones, fly far faster than Backward Birders can run, and though I stared hard into the blast, I couldn't see any sign of it heading south, it had gone into the Bay. Too late to do more than roost, I suspect.

So, when you are reading this, it's probably at Broadsands, or Brixham [they like the oil jetty and the fish market upper roof] or maybe even Torre Abbey!

You never know.
[Worth a look, it's a stonker!]

Light stopped play;

Dusk

[Still blowing a hoolie, though]

Be Seeing You...


[[*Though with the wind, I'd have expected them to go the other way to Blackball; nice and sheltered, unlike all of the Bay???]]