Having spent the windy, showery morning doing domestic jobs, I decided after lunch on a quick drive up to Keanchulish, where I sat in the car for about twenty minutes listening out for a grasshopper warbler. Nothing happened, so I drove back to the village, and parked on West Terrace. There were loads of gulls down on the golf-course spit - surely there would be something good there? A scan through the bins quickly produced a white winger - amazing how well they stand out, even at a distance.
Despite the thin, misty rain and the strong wind, I walked down the ramp and across the field to the shoreline - probably a stupid idea! My hands got very cold in the wind (no heatwave for us!) and I had to keep wiping the camera lens. This white winger looks small compared with the large gulls around it, so I'll call it an Iceland gull - especially as Iceland will be a year tick!
A second white winger was slightly closer.
I think it's a glaucous gull, although from my reading it seems that the bill should be pink with a clearly marked, inky tip. Hmm. This bill's a bit messy - don't say it's another blooming viking gull! Yesterday, I saw my first common sandpiper of the year on the river spit.
