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I headed down to the Shorebird Sanctuary this morning (around 0900hrs) to do my shorebird duties. After high tide had passed at 1037hrs, I decided to linger about and monitor the birds. Whilst looking around I noticed that a good number of Black-headed Gulls were gathering on the flooded saltmarsh. I immediately noticed a small gull feeding amongst them, decided to check it in the scope, I had assumed it would just be Little Gull, however after watching it for a few minutes I noticed that this bird had a very distinctive long and pointed tail, excitement quickly ensued! Ross's Gull then came to mind.
The following features were all noted during the observation:
- Roughly two thirds the size of a Black-headed Gull
- Same flight style and habits as Little Gull
- No obvious secondary bar evident, giving the bird a clean white appearance
- Long pointed tail (elongated tail feathers) very distinct
- The tail had a very faint black band, the point however was white
- Pale headed
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me at the time, I contemplated whether or not to bring it beforehand, but in the end decided not too! The bird remained with the Black-headed Gull flock for about 5 minutes before heading north on its own, it was seen passing the Heligoland trap and then disappeared from view heading north-west.
After seeing the bird disappear I decided to hurry back to Sykes Farm to check the book, while everything was still fresh in mind. I was in doubt that this was indeed a Ross's Gull (first-summer/2CY). I assumed that the bird was heading towards the scrapes Jackson's Marsh and Tennyson's Sands, a follow up visit afterwards proved unsuccessful!
This therefore has left me in a difficult situation, being a sole observer with no photographs!! (a birdwatchers nightmare)
Cheers,
Richard
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