Tuesday 23 February 2016

Unusual Glaucous Gull Behaviour!

 1w Glaucous Gull livening up a poor sea watch this morning.
Weather wise an altogether much better day on the peninsula, light winds and sunshine.
08.00-08.45 from the fishing boats:
Brent Goose: 2E
Shelduck: 3W
Common Scoter: 1E
Red-throated Diver: 23E   2W
Great-crested Grebe: c250 on sea
Gannet: 12W
Cormorant: c200 on sea
Oystercatcher: 1W
Turnstone: 4 on beach
Kittiwake: 5W
Glaucous Gull: the regular 1w bird on beach
Guillemot: 4 on sea
On the reserve 2 Great White Egrets from the entrance track, the Long-eared Owls excellent camouflage took me at least 5 minutes staring into the Dipping Pool bushes to spot it. The drake Smew and Slavonian Grebe were a lot easier. I joined MH at the Hookers viewing ramp, where we watched 3+Marsh Harriers put up 100s of Lapwing and Golden Plover, also 70+ Dunlin there. In the reed bed Bearded Tits were calling as were Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails, also a party of 9 Long-tailed Tits and what appeared to be 5 White-fronted Geese distantly.
At Scotney very little on the main lake and sward, at the back 3 Avocets were the first this year for me but little else seen there. 
Back at the fishing boats this afternoon the sea was even quieter than this morning, but I did have the 1w Glaucous Gull all to my self, I sat on the beach and it walked past me coming to close to photograph at times. As it walked along the shingle ridge, it was I assume feeding in some way by probing the soft shingle deeply taking large beak fulls then shaking it out which it numerous times in the half hour I was watching it. 
 Unusual feeding behaviour of the 1w Glaucous Gull probing deeply!
Shaking out another beak full!
  Again!
Again!
Late this afternoon at Galloways just 8 Reed Buntings, 2 Stonechats, a Kestrel and the usual Corvids. 

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