15th January - Southmoor NR, Hampshire

I can't say I am a lover of gulls, I do admire them for their adaptability.  I like a smart Kittiwake, a Little Gull and would make the effort to see any local white-winged gull, but in general I don't have the patience to work the way through hundreds of gulls in a roost looking for something different.  When a Sabine's Gull was reported last weekend being present around Budds sewerage farm near Southmoor, I didn't expect it to hang around, but it did, it was also the subject of many photographs online, it was approachable and more importantly an adult in full summer breeding plumage, so I was interested.  Then Ian went to see it on Friday and sent through some stunning images and I was stuck at work, worse still the forecast for Saturday was horrendous.

As it happens I had a lovely day on Saturday and was able to get to Southmoor on the Sunday morning when the sun came out.  The only worry was would the shift in wind drive the gull away.  As I pulled up in the car park by the sea wall there were a lot of cars and birders returning to their cars.  I spoke to one and asked if it was showing, his only response was "and more".

I parked the car, decided on wellies and set off around the sea wall to the wall breach.  I had been here just after Christmas and knew that the lagoon being referred to was the one created by the breach in the sea wall, then I had seen Greenshank and Black-tailed Godwit.  As I approached there were quite a few birders on the mud, some standing back and using a telescope, others closer to a pool of water where sat a superb adult Sabine's Gull.

A dark background was a challenge but I was able to edge forward to get a little closer and to get down to eye level.

The last Sabine's Gull I had seen was a distant immature bird off Hill Head in the summer of 2021, prior to that there were five, all immature birds up the River Thames after the hurricane in October 1987, those were the glimpses you expect to get, the black and white wings flashing as a bird rises above the the waves on a sea watch during a storm.  But here was an adult bird in its wonderful summer plumage not more than 10 metres away.

Then panic, as I moved to a different angle and got low once again the camera failed, apparently the camera could not communicate with the lens.  Calmly (which was different from the previous evening), I turned the camera off and back on, nothing!  Next I disconnected the lens, turned the camera on and replaced the lens, turned the camera back on and thankfully all was well.  As the camera burst into life once more the Sabine's gull decided to move.

Only a short distance off the mud and into the water where it drank.  As the wings unfolded I was treated to the black, white and grey triangles on the wings, but they were quickly folded up as it settled back down.

And there it sat, completely unfussed by all the attention it was getting from its many admirers.  Despite having been present for just over a week there were many birders present.  It had been a case of good weather one day and awful the next so that may have deterred many, there were also plenty for who this was not the first visit, some on their third or even fourth.

While the gull was impressive on the ground, many were waiting and hoping for it to fly.

Eventually it did but only a short distance to the island a few feet away.  I was informed that earlier some of the photographers were feeding it, which probably had a lot to do with its reluctance to fly.

With a turn of the head in the morning sunshine the hood could clearly be seen as grey with a black surround.

While standing there was a chance it would fly, but then it settled down on to the mud. looking very content.

It did though remain alert.

I decided to check out the best exposure for flight photographs on the Black-headed Gulls.

Also present on the lagoon was a female Goosander that did not look too well, two Greenshank and five Brent Geese which two birders were claiming as Pale-bellied when they were definitely Dark-bellied.  The Sabine's Gull remained alert but very much on the ground.

Time for some information.  

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini) was formally described in 1819 by the naturalist Joseph Sabine under the binomial name Larus sabini. Sabine based his description on specimens that had been collected by his brother Captain Edward Sabine.  Sir Edward Sabine was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist, explorer, soldier and the 30th president of the Royal Society.

Edward Sabine had accompanied Captain John Ross's on a voyage to look for the Northwest Passage. The birds were found breeding on low lying islands off the west coast of Greenland in July 1818. 

Sabine was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in April 1818, and it was thanks to the society's recommendations that he was invited to take part that year in Captain John Ross's first Arctic expedition. As the expedition's appointed astronomer, Sabine was told to assist Ross "in making such observations as may tend to the improvement of geography and navigation, and the advancement of science in general".

Sabine is also the namesake of not only the Sabine's gull, but also Sabine's puffback, a shrike like bird found in tropical Africa and Sabine's spinetail a species of swift found in central Africa.

More of a tern than a gull, the little Sabine's Gull is a captivating seabird with a charcoal grey head edged in black, a red eye ring, and a black bill with yellow tip.  Also known as the fork-tailed Gull the Sabine’s Gull is now the only species placed in the genus Xema that was introduced in 1819 by the zoologist William Leach in an appendix to Ross's account of the voyage. The genus name Xema appears to be an invented name without meaning.

The black bill and notched tail are almost unique within the gulls, as they are shared only with the swallow-tailed gull of the Galapagos. On the basis of this the two species were often thought to be each other's closest relatives, a hypothesis ruled out by a number of behaviour and ecological differences. Mitochondrial DNA studies confirmed that they are not closely related, and the closest relative of the Sabine's gull is now thought to be the ivory gull, another Arctic species. The two species are thought to have separated around 2 million years ago, longer ago than most groups of gull species.

Then some movement, it stood and wing flapped.

But then settled back down on to the mud, almost as if settling on a brood of eggs.

Settled once again, back to the information:

The Sabine’s Gull breeds in the Arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through northernmost North America and Eurasia. It migrates south in autumn; most of the population winters at sea in the Pacific off western South America in the cold waters of the Humboldt Current, while Greenland and eastern Canadian birds cross the Atlantic by way of the westernmost fringes of Europe to winter off southwest Africa in the cold waters of the Benguela Current. Occasionally individual Sabine's gulls can be seen off other coasts such as the north-eastern United States or further east in Europe, typically following autumn storms.  It is likely that this bird has ended up in the UK on migration across the Atlantic, but being in breeding plumage may ask the question when did this happen?

This diagram shows the movement, with the dark black bands the breeding grounds and the arrows the migratory movement.  The black lines in the southern hemisphere indicate the furthest southerly movement

On their breeding grounds in the Arctic Tundra, Sabine’s Gulls select low-lying wet areas with freshwater pools or lakes, as well as tidal marshes, often near coasts or on small islands, habitat very similar to which it was inhabiting here at Southmoor. In North America and Siberia, nesting Sabine’s Gulls seldom venture into saltwater, feeding mostly in the vicinity of the nest, in sedge meadows, freshwater pools, and brackish sloughs. Inland, they nest in complex wetlands that have a mosaic of marshes, ponds, and elevated patches, among water sedge, pendant grass, creeping alkali grass, dwarf willows, mosses, and many flowering plants. After the young hatch, the adults bring them to freshwater ponds or brackish coastal ponds near the nest, where they feed on fly and midge larvae. In Greenland, Sabine’s Gulls often nest in saltwater environments, among terns on islands in fjords, for instance. After the young fledge, Sabine’s Gulls begin moving toward coastal areas, including beaches, estuaries, and mudflats, in preparation for their long migration to the wintering grounds.

On their wintering grounds, they also use pelagic (deep) water, especially zones of upwelling along the continental slope, from the tropics into the temperate zones. Reports of the species around Greenland and northern Alaska in winter indicate that some may remain all year in the Northern Hemisphere.

As a diversion one of the Greenshank that had been around came closer, settling on the mud on the other side of the island the gull was settled on.

And the female Goosander that was very still and was at one point dived on by a gull, I can only hope it was not suffering from Avian Flu.

Back on the island the Sabine's Gull was still prepared to stare out the surrounding photographers who were desperately wanting it to fly.

Back to the information: Sabine’s Gulls eat small fish, crustaceans, insects, and offal such as fishing discards. Migrants arriving to the Arctic in spring sometimes feed on snowbanks, in tidal rips, behind fishing vessels, and along leads and edges in sea ice, where they take small fish, crustaceans, and offal from boats. Once settled into breeding grounds, Sabine’s Gulls and their young feast in freshwater pools on the larvae and adults of beetles, flies, caddisflies, craneflies, midges, springtails, and mosquitoes. 

They walk along the edges or swim through wetlands, picking tiny insects and spiders much as a shorebird would, gleaning them from the vegetation or water. They sometimes hawk flying insects in flight, wade into shallow water to hunt prey on the bottom (flushing it by stamping or shuffling their feet), or even spin in the water, like a phalarope, to bring prey nearer the water’s surface. Occasionally they eat the eggs or nestlings of other birds or steal fish from nesting Arctic Terns. In Greenland, nesting Sabine’s Gulls often forage in saltwater, especially around strong tidal currents. 

After the breeding season, Sabine’s Gulls gather along shorelines, where they feed on mudflats like a plover, flip over debris like a turnstone, or swim along the water’s edge, picking at tiny prey in the sea foam, much like a Ross’s Gull. They also scavenge small marine organisms that have washed up on beaches. 

Then, without any warning or disturbance it took to the air and immediately you could see the dramatic black, grey and white triangle patterns on the upper wings

In flight around the lagoon it reminded me of a tern or Little Gull, dipping down to the water to check for anything worth investigating or swooping back and forth.

The patterns of the wings and the grey hood accentuated by the morning sunshine.

During the nonbreeding season, most Sabine’s Gulls are birds of the open ocean, seizing prey near the sea surface either while swimming or with a quick dip or plunge while flying. They sometimes hover delicately and patter on the water like a storm-petrel. Where prey is abundant, they often form large flocks of several hundred birds, mixing with many other species of seabird. They also gather around feeding seals and whales to eat zooplankton or scraps from their feeding activity.

Here I managed to catch it picking what looks like a small fish out of the water.

Here you can see the red colouring inside the mouth, again similar to the Swallow-tailed Gull in the Galapagos

As it banked away the left leg was trailing, not tucked under like the red leg.

On closer inspection the foot looks very damaged, however it doesn't appear to be restricting the gull from standing, but it does seem to leave the leg trailing in certain parts of flight.

Then we lost it and I ended up following a Black-headed Gull.  A lot of the gathered photographers had what they wanted and headed back to the car park.  I decided to hang around and see if it returned and it did, settling on the mud a bit further away this time.

An opportunity to preen where it shows the slightly forked tail.

Then settling still, but standing up so I was hopeful it would fly again.

And it did fly again.

Almost a full wing view

Coming in low over the water.

But then settled back down on to the mud.

Then right down once more and even with eyes closed this time.

I decided it was time to leave, it looked very settled once again and I had all that I needed.  Later I thought about why it was here, when first found it was around the sewerage outflow, on the sea, but more recently on the lagoon, both areas simulate its more natural habitats, the sewerage outflow the upflows in the southern hemisphere oceans, the lagoon the breeding grounds in the tundra, clearly this must be a very confused little Sabine's Gull.

This will probably be a once in a lifetime encounter, I don't think I ever thought I would come across an adult summer plumaged Sabine's Gull, neither others too, let alone photograph it so close.  Climate change may increase the frequency of autumn and winter storms which may drive them to the UK, but I suspect my next Sabine's if in fact I do see another will be distant and out on the sea.

Before leaving I spent some time scanning the sea and managed to pick up several Red-breasted Mergansers, two pairs of Goldeneye, four Little Grebes and three Black-necked Grebes.

One last thing is how is the name of this delightful gull pronounced?  If anyone can come up with evidence of how Edward Sabine pronounced his surname, the question would be answered. The pronunciations say-bine, say-been, sab-ine and sab-een all seem to be used. However the UK the preference and mine is for ‘say-bine’ (by analogy with “saline”).