Ireland -the Gulls

A summary of the gulls from my Ireland trip, Larophiles (Gull 'enthusiasts') enjoy...

Ring Billed Gull:  We saw 5 RBG's, three adults and two 2nd winter birds.  There were 

two at Cork Lough, two at Tralee Wetland Centre and one at Castletownbere.  They showed pretty well too.

Mediterranean Gull:  Not quite as uncommon as the rest, but Med Gulls are always nice, and I got a surprise when we found eleven at Aghada!  There was a 2nd winter and ten adults which were coming into summer plumage, standing out well amongst Common and Black Headed Gulls.  There was also a 1st winter bird at Tralee Bay Wetlands.

Iceland Gull: We managed two Iceland Gulls, one at Tralee Bay Wetland Centre and one at Ballycotton Pier, both of them were 1st winter birds - I think.

Kumlien's Gull: A subspecies of Iceland Gull, but still a nice one to see.  There was a 1st winter individual showing extremely well at Kinsale Co. Cork.

Glaucous Gull: These huge birds are real stunners!  Dwarfing all the other gulls around them they're quite an impressive sight.  We had  1st winter birds at Kenmare Pier and Black Rock, with adults seen at Cahermore and Castletownbere.

Yellow-legged Gull:  A bird I'd been trying to see for a long time, and finally managed to get at Castletownbere, and if that wasn't enough it was sitting next to a Glaucous Gull!

Interestingly enough at the same location we found a Yellow-legged Herring Gull, surely just to confuse things.

Ross's Gull:  And of course the Ross's Gull.  This little beauty was at Kinsale Co. Cork, and showed unbelievably well. 

Really a fantastic trip.

Ross's Gull

It's back to gulls for now, and I imagine that this theme will continue into the next post too.  I did see rather a lot.
 On the 20th, I went (ahem, twitched) a Ross's Gull.  This little Arctic gull had ended up at Kinsale in Co. Cork.  As with the Eider, it only took a few minutes to find the gull (ah the joys of Irish birding) as it flew by the Trident Hotel.  We ended up being there for around four hours, and the bird showed well on and off during that time.  On a couple of occasions, it flew by within six foot of where I was standing.  A fantastic little bird. Unfortunately it appeared to be slightly oiled on the breast.  It didn't seem to be hindered by this though.
 In typical rare bird fashion it proved pretty difficult to photograph, so again... Record shots.

 In the times when the Ross's was out of sight, I spent time photographing some of the other gulls in the area.  There were plenty of Kittiwakes around, and we even managed to find a Kumlien's Gull.  Although to be quite honest I only confirmed the ID once I'd got back.

Is that enough gulls yet? I suppose not, well more will be coming soon.... Many more.....