Little Gull

I made two visits to Sandy Water Park today in the hope that the Little Gull found a couple of days ago by Barry would still be there. On the first visit at 8am, the only small gulls on the lake were two Black-headed Gulls, so I had a quick check of the estuary and North Dock Lake and decided I would check back in the late afternoon.

I arrived back at 5:30pm, and was pleased to see a good number of gulls there. It didn't take me long to find the Little Gull which was sat on the water with some Black-headed Gulls, occasionally lifting off to give short flights. What a stunning little bird! Here are a series of photos I digiscoped of it...

A Gannet was fishing in the estuary, and on the sand bar there were 18 Sandwich Terns with eight Common Gulls, a 3cy Mediterranean Gull and c.40+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

On North Dock Lake the only bird of note was a Common Sandpiper on a pontoon.

Common Sandpiper