As almost everywhere near the coast, it’s also easy to find gulls near the German coast, for example herrings gulls. It’s however less likely that you will find a glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) here at the German coast, but that’s exactly what happened to me during a hike through the Schellbruch. I was wondering why the gull looked so different compared to other gulls and after researching I found out that it’s a less common gull.

In other words, the habitat of this gull species is much further north in the subpolar zone and in the arctic polar region. But sometimes in fall (starting September, October), the glaucious gull will move to more temperate regions to find iceless waters. In Germany you have the best chance to find the bird in Schleswig-Holstein or Lower Saxony according to a German article about the glaucous gull. Apart from Scandinavia and the British Islands, it’s mentioned that the bird can even be found near the coast in Japan and California during the migration period. If you want to learn more, the Wikipedia article is as always interesting too.

For me it was just interesting to take a photo of a less common and much larger gull, and I hope you liked the photo too. If you are new to the blog, check out my other bird photos and stories or drop a comment if you like!