About 3 pm on Wed. 18th we entered the Denny hide. A visiting birder had his large scope on a flock of c.30 gulls standing on an island in the middle of Flat Beach: ad. Common, ad. LBB, a few ad. Herring, a flock of GBBs of various ages, and a smaller gull that he’d been studying for 5 minutes which he suggested was a Caspian.
Even through bins it looked a bit odd, with a disproportionately long and quite narrow bill, small-looking pure white head & long sloping forehead. I had a good long look through his scope. It was preening a lot, but on the maybe 10 occasions when it briefly lifted its head the forehead–bill profile was confirmed each time. The bill was remarkably long and thin, pretty straight-edged above & below except for quite a downcurve on the tip of the upper mandible. It was pale with a blackish vertical mark through both mandibles near the tip. The forehead was white like the head, long and gently sloping noticeably far along the upper mandible. The legs looked as long as those of the much larger Great Black-backs, and were washed-out pink. The eye was small and dark.
Once it opened its wings briefly. There was quite a bit of brown on the wings, so maybe a late-second-winter bird? We never saw the tail. The bird was still there when we left about 3.30. Barry hasn't heard of any reports so I wonder if anyone else has seen this bird and what they made of it.
Pat & Mary
Feb 27, 2015 at 7:52 
