GLAUCOUS IS WILLING.

At last a white winged winter wanderer has pitched up in Dover Harbour,yesterday morning my persistence and eternal optimism paid off when a young Glaucous Gull caught my eye as it flew along the beach heading for the clock tower.I followed it in my bins and it appeared to go down into the old hoverport.When I got on the pier it was indeed in amongst a few other gulls,but was only viewable through the portholes,I cleaned the glass as best I could and took a record shot:-

THAT`S HIM ON THE RIGHT.
This is undoubtedly the best bird of the winter here,I have only seen a single purple sandpiper,the young shag and four snow buntings,no auks no divers and only a handful of grebes.
A plan was hatched to return in the afternoon with some chummy made up from brown bread and sardines in sunflower oil.
It was getting a bit gloomier by the time I arrived at the pier head, and there was no sign of my quarry,in fact hardly any gulls at all,but I tossed a couple of spoonfuls over the side and before you could say GLAUCOUS GULL it and a crowd of herring gulls arrived on the scene,the newcomer wasn`t universally popular and was attacked by some of the other "locals?".There now followed a tricky sequence of tossing chummy and firing off my Canon.......

FIRST WINTER GLAUCOUS GULL

 The lights from the cruise terminal reflected on the water show how dark it was getting.

 FIRST WINTER HERRING GULL FOR COMPARISON.

SLIGHTLY BIGGER THAN A HERRING GULL.
Hopefully it will hang around the area for a few days now,and don`t forget your chummy.