Firstly apologies for the poor quality of these pics - in my defence, they were "digi-binned" from a moving Land Rover, but they clearly show a new 2nd year Glauc between Ainsdale and Birkdale, meaner, bigger and even whiter than the usual Weld Road bird.
Barely has a tertial step, but with a hooter like that, it could only be a Glauc.
I watched it this morning and later this afternoon halfway up the Green Beach as it fed on strandline corpses.
When I first saw it at about 9am, I was confused as to how the original Glauc had moulted so quickly, losing all its vermiculations, and completely recovering from its limp and gammy wing.
Five minutes later I bumped into the "original" bird at Weld Road - still limping, and trailing its wing.
I turned back down the beach and the new 'un was still there.
Blotchy pearl grey back coming through, big powerful bill, with a paler tip, and pretty wary.
So, two Glaucs for the price one.
Can't be bad.
Just to complicate things still further, I was out on patrol on Wednesday when I saw a Glauc flying down the Green Beach and foraging on the deck - same vermiculations as the original bird (so I didn't pay it much attention), but no limp, and what appeared to be a much bigger, longer, more typical "Glauc" bill.
Could there be three birds out there?
Confused? I know I am.
With the number of "white wings" being reported in Faeroes and Shetland at the moment, we may get more of these beauties, and even an Iceland or two, which would be great....here's hoping.
Away from the beach on this glorious gin clear day, I had 34 Snipe rising from the slacks south of Shore Road, and a cracking Short Eared Owl hunting beside the Coast Road mid-afternoon.
Great Crested Grebe offshore this evening, but on the down side, two dead Shags on the beach.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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The 2nd winter Glauc showed well this afternoon south of the boardwalk over the high tide later moved south off Taggs Island and later still much further south feeding on a corpse. Large numbers of other gulls, though I picked out nothing else besides the odd Scandinavian Herring. No sign this afternoon of the 1st winter Glauc. Some good wader counts in two roosts including: Oystercatcher 6500, Bar Tailed Godwits 3500+, Knot 2000 and Dulin 1500. 3 Goldeneye and a couple of Great Crested Grebes offshore along with some very distant flying Scoter c40 and a flying diver out near the horizon.