Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a common Winter visitor to Ireland from its breeding grounds in Iceland and Greenland.  This year there appears to have been a higher number of sightings than most, they have been reported almost daily, along with plenty of  Iceland and some Kumliens Gulls.  The Glaucous Gull in these shots is a 1st Winter, this one was mixing with the mixed flocks in and around Port Oriel in Co. Louth last weekend.

This particular bird is very pale, the brown almost completely washed out of its plumage which happens this time of the year.  A few months ago this bird most likely had a duller, browner appearance.  Yesterday there were two 1st Winters and an adult sighted in Port Oriel, at a guess I'd say one of the 1st Winters was this individual.

This was a big bird for a 1st Winter, and when fully grown an adult Glaucous would almost match a Great Black Backed Gull for size, and the Great Black Backed is our largest gull.

This individual was particularly twitchy, constantly taking flight and moving across the harbour, settling down for a while, before moving back across to its position on the nearside rocks with the other gulls.