A congregation of Gulls off the beach at Norwick proved too much to ignore despite the atrocious weather and they included a juvenile Glaucous Gull and my first juvenile Iceland Gull of the Autumn. Brydon then popped round having seen the Iceland Gull at Haroldswick that we then saw together. Mid-afternoon the weather improved and we saw a few flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares. A return to Norwick beach and all the Gulls had moved on but a Chiffchaff was present.
With two Kumlien's Gulls having been seen on North Ronaldsay in recent days I left home hoping the overnight storm may deliver one. Whilst scanning the flock I was then pleased to see an 'Iceland Gull' flying among the Herring Gulls that on first inspection appeared to lack the striking white primaries of an Iceland, a darkish tail and what appeared quite a large dark bill.
Willing it to land, it suddenly obliged and I had hopes that it would look something like this...
...whereas unfortunately its primaries appeared very pale...
...and all the more so when viewed against a 'dark' background
Iceland Gull at Norwick & Haroldswick
Chiffchaff at Norwick
