Lawks! A Glaucs!

The morning 'getting-ready-for-work' routine has continued to be interrupted by Snipe-watching, as these delightful waders are still frequenting the paddock below the garden.

To our great benefit, their normally perfect camouflage doesn't work so well in a tussocky pasture!

But they were upstaged the other day, when the field over the road was visited by a less than normal gull. It was quite large, but strikingly pale, so not one of the usual suspects. This was enough encouragement to have me scurrying for a bird ID book.

It's an immature Glaucous Gull, a Winter visitor to Orkney.

Another interesting effect illustrated in the photos, which were taken about five minutes apart, is the morning moment when the weather changes, early sunshine followed by a dull day.