16/12/2013 Patrington Haven, E. Yorks

Ivory Gull:  What a STUNNER!

After dipping the Northumberland birds only last week, it made seeing this bird even more special to see.

When we arrived we were told that the bird had just been on the fish and flew off on the mud flats, I was fuming as for the rest of the day we stood in the cold, and at one point wet, waiting for the bird to come back to the fish.






The wind had picked up and the temperature continued to drop and the bird remained far out on the mud, it could have been mistaken for Little Egret or even a supermarket carrier bag it was that far away!

At one point I wanted to head back and grab some food on the way home, but Scott was still upbeat and adamant the bird was going to return to the fish.






Scott was right and the bird flew right over our heads and circled the crowd of gobsmacked birders before landing on the pile of fish giving us all some AWESOME views.





I also had a chance to meet some of the hardcore Next Generation Birders, which was a pleasure and I am sure will see again on some other future twitch.