It's the time of year when rarities often appear and yesterday I found one. Well, a local rarity.
Saunders Gull are rare this far north, this is only the second one I've seen in Hokkaido. the last one was an immature several years ago but as you can see this is an adult in full breeding colours.
It seemed tiny and its feeding habits were quite different from Black Headed Gulls. It swooped down onto the mud to gran worms..............
It didn't spend much time on the ground, most of the shots were BIFs. It was very graceful and ternlike.
Anyway, what a beautiful small gull (the second smallest in the world).
What a stunning gull! Thank goodness you were there with your camera.
ReplyDeleteIt was a real little beauty. We don't get many hooded gulls herein Hokkaido either, most of the time just passage Black Headed Gulls and they're only in summer plumage for a short window in Hokkaido. And their hoods are brown. And they aren't as cute as this one.
DeleteFantastic shotsof this rare gull
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret..........
DeleteA very handsome bird, so neatly feathered.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Wilma
DeleteCongrats on getting such great shots of this....all HK's wintering Saunders's have gone now
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's where this one came from..........
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