Glaucous Gull - Seaton Common, Teesside

Just thought I would share some images of the Glaucous Gull that is frequenting Seaton Common tip at Teesside. The tip is opposite Zinc Works Road/North Gare. The bird is regularly seen on the tip as well as roosting up on Seaton Common itself. The bird is a 1st winter, in other words last years young. I have seen the bird myself and I filmed it and photographed it a while ago, but Ian Forrest has managed some far better images and videos of the bird.

So very kindly Ian Forrest has allowed me to share these with you, all images and videos below are © Copyright Ian Forrest UNLESS otherwise stated.

(juvenile/1st winter Glaucous Gull at Teesside. Note bill patter with solid black tip to the end of the bill. Also note how large the bird feels from looking at the photo, powerful bill, bulky body, and everything looks nice and solid. Finally note the primary projection beyond the tail, its very short and barely existent on the bird standing in this posture. Iceland Gull should have a longer primary projection beyond the tail.)

(Again note the primary projection, appears longer in this image. Goes to show how the angle at which a bird stands can alter how long the primary projection actually looks. In this photo the bird again looks very large and powerful, reinforced by that long and heavy bill. Marking on coverts, secondaries, and tertials universal making the bird look neat and tidy in terms of markings in plumage)

(Note in this image and the image above the translucent primaries in flight appearing very white and clean. All over the upperwing of the bird looks very white. The primaries and secondaries on the underwing again appear very white, note the contrast between the white primaries and secondaries and the darker shades formed by the coverts.)

A nice video of the bird:

Until next time, Foghorn out!