Gully amble

Adult Mediterranean Gull - it was a bit of a way off

I wandered along the beach at Sandsend around lunchtime and almost the first bird I saw was an adult Mediterranean Gull. This didn't linger but flew off north west to be lost in the distance. There were quite a few Red-throated Divers in the bay. I counted eight but as usual with this species that is probably a lower number than were actually there. These varied in plumage from juvenile (at least three), almost moulted in to winter plumage adult to full summer plumage adult. Other notable birds were a nice adult Little Gull, a Kittiwake, a drake Eider, seven Shags and a Rock Pipit. It seemed to me there was a bit of a movement of Black-headed Gulls but perhaps they were just disappearing inland or feeding over a largish area.

There's the little fella

Kittiwake

I thought this 1stW Common Gull was potentially quite confusing with the mask around it's eyes, not a typical bird at any rate.

Sandsend and gulls

Encouraged by the suspected gull movement and the strong winds I headed for gusty Scaling Dam in the late afternoon. As expected there were plenty of gulls and only a relatively small proportion seemed to be stopping for the roost, the larger gulls especially just flying through. Watching the Common Gulls flying in (about 700) I was sure I'd found another Med Gull but I could not relocate it on the water so best forgotten.