Ross’ gulls in the Netherlands

As a child, looking in my bird guide, I really liked the paintings of the Ross’ gull. I was believing that I would never see this beautiful Arctic bird in real life...

Life is easier than I thought, because I saw already four (4!) Ross’ gulls in the Netherlands! From three of them I was able to take some pictures:

• November 1995 I saw my first Ross’ gull in IJmuiden harbour. I didn’t have a camera, so I didn’t take any pictures ;-).

• My second sighting was a lovely pink Ross’ gull at Scheveningen (November 2004):

Ross Meeuw 04 1676     Ross Meeuw 04 1699
November 2004, Scheveningen

• I saw my third Ross’ gull in Numansdorp, Spring (April) 2011:

Ross meeuw 11 7082     Ross meeuw 11 9399
April 2011, Numansdorp

• Finally, I visited the first winter Ross’ gull in Vlissingen harbour for four times (January/February 2018):

Ross meeuw 18 Z9A3848 c
February 2018, Vlissingen



And a new sighting:

Ross meeuw 21 T4A9659 Scheveningen
April 2021, Scheveningen