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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gander" data-source="post: 3510502" data-attributes="member: 138487">Extra Day - Extra Glaucous.Due to extreme weather conditions yesterday, I have had to spend an extra day on the platform. Despite mountainous seas, eighty mph winds, hail, snow and lightening strikes on the derrick, there were still birds to see. Ninety plus Herring Gulls, a smattering of GBBGs, thirteen Kittiwakes, a couple of Fulmars, the two resident Common Scoter and the 1W Glaucous Gull that's been hanging around for a couple of days.Today, the wind has dropped a bit. Herring Gull count was up over one hundred and sixty birds, with ten GBBs & ten Kittiwake. No sign of the Scoters this morning, but I didn't spend much time looking due to the blizzard conditions. What I did spot though were three 1W Glaucous really close in to the platform.I can't tell you if this has been a particularly good Winter for white winged gulls. I'll be honest and say that last year, I didn't really know they existed. Have I been seeing them and just not identifying them in the past? Very likely. The first bird I noticed this year was swooping about right in front of me at close range. I had to look it up to see what it was, but after that I been deliberately looking for them in the gull flocks. From the records I have, they are not often reported from other platforms either, but I wonder if that is because they are not actively being searched for.I have also noticed that reports from Shetland indicate a good year for the white wings. We are not two far away relatively speaking, so it is no surprise that what I'm seeing should mirror the Shetland reports. I noticed on a Twitter from there that they are hoping for the Northerly winds to bring them Ross's Gulls. I looked them up last night just in case, and spent a few extra minutes checking out our Kittiwake a bit more closely, just in case.</blockquote>

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