19th February 2016 (Cornwall)

Headed down to Cornwall today. Stopped off at Dozmary Pool on the way to look for the lesser Scaup but didn't manage to locate it; there were only 2 Tufted Ducks in the vegetation on the lake margin. 2 Goldeneye and a large flock of fieldfares was the best managed.

Fieldfare - Dozmary Pool

Dozmary Pool

Next stop was Newlyn where at first we failed to locate any glaucous gull, but we did have a Great Northern Diver, a Guillemot close-in, and several Shags and Turnstones. As we were leaving, I spotted 2 pale gulls in the habour. Pulled the car over and there were the 2 Glaucous Gulls.

Shag - Newlyn

2 Glaucous Gulls - Newlyn

Mousehole was the next stop, where we scanned through the gulls roosting on St Clements Isle, producing a few Grey Plovers and a Grey Seal. Eventually, we picked up the juvenile\1st winter AMERICAN HERRING GULL that has been roosting on the west side of Mount's Bay recently.

AMERICAN HERRING GULL - Mousehole

The unmarked, extremely dark brown underparts along with the extensively pale bill made this a really striking larid.