3rd time's the charm! - Bangor Harbour, Gwynedd - 11th March 2011

Bangor harbour at 18.30 aka dark...

The weather today has been hideous, so I wasn't expecting to be able to get out for the gull roost tonight, however mid-afternoon saw the rain stop and the wind drop slightly.
I arrived at the base of the pier at 17.05 and starting scanning the gulls in the mouth of the harbour. As the tide started to drop, more and more gulls came in, but islands started to form on the mudflats in the middle of the straits which meant that a great proportion of the gulls were landing on here...disaster!?

Staying later that the 10th, I got to observe a greater number of birds which increased to over 3000 by 18.20. I was beginning to lose hope as a lot of birds (probably close to 1000 birds were on the mudflats at a distance of 1km, so I really wasn't hopeful)
Suddenly, as the light was almost gone, the birds all rose from the mudflats and starting bathing in the mouth of the harbour much much closer.

Scanning frantically, I was getting more and more desperate, losing hope as the precious rays of light were dimming more and more. I was suddenly blinded by a bird in the mouth of the harbour with a bright white appearence. There was just enough light to make out the two-toned bill and brilliant 'white' plumage. GLAUCOUS GULL. Superb!

The light (as you can see in the photo posted) had almost well and truly gone so any chance of handheld-digiscoping had gone. To get an idea of what I was looking at (finally!), please check out Alex Jones' Blog - http://birdingnorthwales.blogspot.com/2011/03/glaucous-gull-at-menai-bridge.html

Don't you just love when a hunch pays off!?!