8-1-09 Glaucous Winged Gull Run

Thursday and the Glaucous Winged Gull seemed to be settled at Dormans pool or at least to returning there from the nearby tip, so I decided to Twitch it , I am not prone to this so it was a bit of a novelty, a bright sunny day but this proved to be against me on the way down the sun low and bright lit up the road and all the signs where just unreadable till I was past ,not been to this area for a few years , but most came back when I got there missed the turning for Dormans , and had to swing around pulled into the lane to find , RD, AMc, and SS, (check http://www.boulmerbirder.blogspot.com/ it out )they were relaxing having a coffee after having seen the bird , and RD got some great flight shots of it,
http://www.richarddunn.co.uk/Bird%20Photos/Pages/Glaucous-winged%20Gull.html so it was get in line and wait for it's return, plenty of Gulls around, an Adult Glaucous dropped in , Pintail entertained us flying around to the open water as most of the pool was iced up , good fortune as it happened , a Short Eared Owl across the other side , Pied Wagtail, and Water Rail calling, another waive of gulls and a 1st year Glaucous dropped in just going to get a shot when RD picked out the GWG, but lost sight as he lifted his head for bearings, but he picked it out again, thank the lord , after standing freezing for hours ,success, it showed well for awhile then came closer but hidden partly by the reeds, it's now done and dusted !!!!
As it got dark I started to limp up the track my feet where frozen solid, still people arriving hoping to see it most just carrying bins ( good luck with that), I decided to go back via the tunnel but while in the queue I realized I had no cash, got to the booth with my debit card thinking I could just swipe and go like you do abroad for toll roads, no such luck the guy said pull over to the side at that building and I will be over soon , so he comes and opens the building and locks the door behind us, takes my card for the old dial up machine, asks for my reg no, and the booth number and noted why I had not paid cash in the ledger, unlocked the door and I was free to go, my 1:20p paid, so don't forget to put some cash in the car ashtray, because God Knows what happens if you have no cash or card !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adult Glaucous Dormans Pool Teeside

Digiscoped , Adult Glaucous Winged Gull, Dormans Pool Teeside

Digiscoped, Adult Glaucous Winged Gull Dormans Pool Teeside, small headed ,beedy eyed short legged, and seemed to sit back on it's heels, the grey in the wing just visible, and grey overall a shade or two darken than Herring

Just a couple of video clips not as informative as hoped, no wing stretch etc: but does show some jizzz