Ibis & Ivory Gull - Orkney 2013
Two rare birds seen in Orkney in December 2013. Firstly, a Glossy ibis in a field in Swannay (next to the brewery). Secondly, an Ivory Gull feeding on a dead Sperm Whale, washed up on the shore at Evie. Ivory Gulls rarely move beyond the Arctic Circle and this was supposedly the first sighting in Orkney since 1946. The gull undoubtedly hitched a ride on the whale carcass which gives an indication that the animal died in Arctic waters.