Ross's Gull at Poolbeg

I made my way back to Poolbeg (Dublin Port) on Sunday afternoon to see if I could catch up with the Ross's Gull that had been in and around the port for a few weeks.  Saturday was a big dip with the Ross's showing up not long after I'd departed, so with the fingers and toes crossed it was to Poolbeg I headed again on Sunday.

The Ross's is a bird from the Arctic Circle and this one was only about the 22nd record ever for Ireland, so it was a bit of a big deal for me, it's not very often the mega birds show up in Dublin, you usually have to travel the length and breadth of the island chasing, so to have such a rarity in your hometown was nice for a change.

Anyway Sunday was windy, cold, damp and occasionally wet, and went from bright sunshine to overcast skies from one minute to the next.  Lots of the guys who dipped on Saturday were back for another play at the waiting game along with a few of the other usual suspects.

The Ross's didn't show 'till about 4.00pm and when it did eventually appear it spent a lot of the time down behind the outlet wall (you can see the barbed wire that sits on the wall in one of the shots) and out of view.  It appeared to be swimming against the tide up the outflow and then riding the current back down, a process it repeated again and again.  The problem here was the the Ross's was hidden from view for much of the time as it stayed down below the wall!

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On the odd occasion it did show there was a burst of action from the watching group as shutters opened and closed, tripods were adjusted and shouts went out mostly of the "I cant bleedin' see it, someone spot it for me" type.  The locals out walking the South Bull Wall were really curious as to what a group of (mainly) grown men in green anoraks and hats could be getting so exited about.  One lady asked were we looking at someone famous to which the reply came ' yeah, Colin Farell is skinny dipping in there'.

The light was poor at this time and although the bird gave intermittent views for about ninety minutes by the time we packed up and decided to call it a day it was almost dark.  I don't think anyone managed any really great shots, the two I have here are really the best of the bad bunch I managed.