First thing this morning I pulled into an empty car park by the power station quite pleased that I would have the beach to myself. I wandered down to The Patch in the hoping that the Hastings Laughing Gull had relocated to Dungeness. Arriving at The Patch there were c50 Common Terns and c150 Herring Gulls plus at least 3 Mediterranean Gulls over the boil, on the beach another c250 Herring Gulls but no sign of the Laughing Gull. I settled down to trying to get some North Thames ring numbers but all the gulls were to far away to read the rings. I scanned the sea towards Fairlight through the scope suddenly picking up a lone Gull c 600 yds away, knowing instantly it was the Laughing Gull. I quickly took some video at 260X for a record image, then had to walk back along the beach to the sea watch hide before I could get a phone signal (the service is appalling at Dungeness). Arriving back at The Patch, a 5 minute panic whilst I relocated the Gull. Most of the morning it stayed distant. I went home for lunch then got a call to say that it was eating cheesy snacks at peoples feet. I quickly arrived and the bird was really close but the light was shocking (I'm never satisfied) A short video of the Laughing Gull can be seen by clicking on the the following link https://youtu.be/AahX4zFPfXU
Just about to be flushed by security
A poor record of it's brief visit to Dungeness RSPB reserve. A first for the reserve I believe.
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