A first-winter Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus was watched in the Tyne river mouth this morning – resting for quite a while on the rocks below the Spanish Battery. This bird has been visiting the river mouth since at least late December and has also been present at St Mary’s Island since November – seemingly commuting between these areas. This is quite a dark bird about the head, face, neck and chest and of medium size. A recent sighting of an Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides (age unknown) in the area was also mentioned to me. At the Low Lights car park a Rook Corvus frugilecus showed (a rare appearance here) amongst the Carrion Crows Corvus corone. Other gulls included at least 199 Black-headed, 135 Herring, twenty Great Black-backed, five Common and three adult Kittiwakes. Quite a cool seven degrees Celcius today with a grey sky – making the day chillier than yesterday when the sun shone nicely in a clear blue sky for much of the time.
Dan Turner