With work not particularly forthcoming I had a bit of time on my hands, so decided to head over to Roundhay Park to twitch the Iceland Gull that has been showing well for the best part of a week. Twitching is not usually my scene, but a local bird which is showing well is always worth a fancy if time allows.
Armed with some stale bread I headed down to the Waterloo Lake and very quickly found the gull sat on the water with the Herring Gulls. For some reason Half of the lake edge was fenced off. Where the fence ended I began to throw the bread for the assembled Mute Swans and Black-headed Gulls, but sadly the Iceland Gull seemed reluctant to move. I decided to change location, this time trying from the area in front of the café where there was no fence.
This began to work, with the Iceland Gull drifting towards this position with the allure of bread. It was getting to where I wanted it when my limited bread ran out, but I had hoped I had done enough to keep it where I wanted it. Sadly at this point another birder arrived, armed with his own bread, but decided to throw from the other side of the lake, from behind the fence. Consequently, now without my own retaliatory bread, the gull once again began to move away.
Still, I was able to get some nice photos of the bird perched on the posts in front of the Lakeside Café. It was a very smart juvenile, and the first time I have seen this species since the individual on Redcar Tarn, back before the pandemic, so well overdue!
