To some it is the peak of birding joy. To me, gull watching is a bit of a chore.
Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly dislike gulls - some of them are really smart. But grilling a huge flock of Herring, Lesser BB and Great BB (in all ages) in the hope of something more interesting just doesn't inspire me. Hence news of an in-county Ring-billed Gull filling me with equal amounts of hope and despair. It was seen yesterday afternoon and again this morning on a small balancing pool near to the tip at Shawell. Ring-billed Gull would be a county tick, but I knew that looking for it would involve endless tedium repeatedly scanning through the larger larids. Add to this scene the gloomy wet conditions and I have to say I was in two minds about heading over this afternoon.
However I pulled myself together, got there and spent the best part of 2 hrs grilling the white/grey/black mass without joy. Bollocks. They weren't even on the water - they were all lazily loafing on a grassy mound some way behind the pool (which can only be watched from a tiny gap in a hedge alongside a busy A road). In fact, a single adult Yellow-legged was the only brief excitement for me. Despite this, I will be back in the morning for another try. It's a bit like self-harming.
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