Little Gull at Hornsea

Went for a walk on the beach at Hornsea this afternoon while the tide was coming in and scanned the usual mass of gulls feeding by the rocks and breakwaters to see if there was anything different out there. Today there was! A small gull with a V shape on the wings, a Little Gull I thought?

It was skimming the surface of the water, very Little Gull-like, and not settling at all. It was mobile and always going North and I had trouble keeping it in the bins as the waves were crashing in and obscurring it every now and again. I stopped to get my camera out and thought I had it OK but then I realised that the settings were all wrong. My friend had borrowed it for an indoor shoot and had changed the settings so I couldn't get a decent shot. By the time I'd sorted it and fired off a few shots the battery went, and the spare was done too (give him his due, Andy did say I'd need my charger!). It was only when I was reviewing what I'd managed to get that I realised he'd changed JPEG to RAW as well. Doh!

At least the bird is recognisable as (I think) a first winter Little Gull.