Yesterday at Dingle, two large trawlers were transferring many tons of this small pink fish into waiting trucks. It is a Boar Fish, and was to be used to produce fish meal for salmon farms. While offloading is a much more 'sterile' operation these days, there were still a few spillages on the pier and a large gathering of gulls kept a keen eye out for an easy opportunity for lunch. Four Glaucous Gulls and two Kumlien's Gulls were in the multitudes, one of the Kumlien's (below) was a new bird to the area and, with the other new bird from Reenard three days ago, brings the Kerry total for January to eight.
One individual of the many tons of Boar Fish being offloaded at Dingle Harbour (Michael O'Clery).
A first-winter Glaucous Gull weighs in for a share of the spoils, Dingle Harbour, 22nd January 2014 (Michael O'Clery).
Standing waist deep in Boar Fish, many gulls, like the Glaucous Gull above, squabbled with and tried to rob the fish from their neighbours, rather than picking one from the pile.
First-winter Kumlien's Gull, Dingle Harbour, 22nd January 2014 (Michael O'Clery).
