A ‘Sand Dune Safari’ event was repurposed as a bit of birdwatching when I was the only customer to show up. A bit of time with John Dempsey is always educational and this was no exceptions.

Setting off in search of the Caspian Gull that had been resident for a little while, we were soon distracted by two Arctic Skuas who were giving the Sandwich Terns a bit of a workout in between spells of sitting on the sand and preening. It was the first time I’d really spent much time watching these dashing pirates, and it’s easy tosee why John is so in love with these birds.

Returning to the top of the beach, a line of tripods made it easy to see where the Caspian Gull had come to settle; it was the same gentlemen I had met at Preston Dock a fortnight or so before on another Larophiles Anonymous outing.

The main attraction was with a few other gulls, and provided photo opportunities in a few poses; standing, flying a bit, but mostly sitting on its arse with a sort of oblivious amenability that was also notable with the summer’s other star gulls.

I had worried that, despite studying the textbooks somewhat, I would struggle to tell the Caspian from a Herring Gull, to the extent that I hadn’t previously made a serious attempt to find the thing. In the end it was easy. The bird was strikingly long-legged and its white head shone out across the beach. There was plenty of time to inspect its grey shawl and see what people mean when they talk about a ‘full nappy’. Once or twice it flew a few yards, and the length of those wings was striking, as were the lighter panels behind the dark leading edge.

I was still waiting for it to do something a bit more photogenic, like one of its ‘long call’ poses, but the heavens opened and it was time to go home.

It’s hard to pick a favourite amongst this summer’s fancy foreign gulls; they’ve all been great.