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It's been some time coming, but at long last a 'from the field' call from Peter 'Pedro' Farbridge to say that he was watching a first winter Glaucous Gull at the western end of Prior's Fen along Willow Hall Lane. Quite by chance I was at Boongate so was only a few minutes from him.
I arrived to find Pete watching the gulls in a field quite a bit closer than their usual field. I sneaked out of the passenger side (as not to spook everything) and set up the scope and camera for some record shots. It was gloomy as hell and bloody windy, and to top it, the bird was either asleep (and therefore appearing headless) or preening and moving around too much for the camera in such low light!
This is quite a typically dark, dirty looking bird, with its huge pinkish, dark tipped bill standing out like a sore thumb! On the lower shot you can see it wing stretching showing the pale primaries and tail, and the distinctive barring on the uppertail coverts.
I first found this bird at nearby Eye Tip on 2 January, since when it has only been seen on a couple occasions until Pete pinned it down today.
The fields to the east of Eye Tip, around Prior's Fen, Flag Fen, Northey and North Fen, are always worth checking for gulls. I had a Glaucous Gull our here in November 2002, and Med Gulls have also been seen.
Nikon Coolpix 995 + Leica APO Televid 77 with 20xWA
© Steve Dudley | 30 January 2004
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