Gull sparks interest in birdwatching

Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Following the arrival of a laughing gull in Mossel Bay, reported on by the Mossel Bay Advertiser, it seems as if, apart from extremely avid birdwatchers, there has been a renewed interest in birding as a hobby.

The laughing gull (Leutacophaeus atricilla), initially thought to be a Franklin's gull, was first sighted on Santos Beach on 6 February.

Bird expert Trevor Hardaker, who runs the Southern African Rare Birds News (SARBN), correctly identified the gull on 7 February and confirmed the sighting in Mossel Bay was a first for Africa, south of the equator.

Birdwatcher Vince Rayne, a resident of Fynbos Heights, since reported to the Advertiser that he caught a glimpse of a Franklin's gull in Little Brak on 6 April 2017.

Rayne says he and several other enthusiasts saw the gull from the railway bridge at the river mouth.

"A young man named Eduard Drost, who was with me there for some time watching the gull flying around the area managed to photograph it."

Rayne offered the Advertiser Drost's photographs for publication.

Rudi Minnie, coordinator of the birdwatching group in Mossel Bay told the Advertiser early last week that the sighting of the laughing gull was so rare that an Afrikaans name for the gull had not yet been established.

"Locally we had a lot of fun jesting about a possible name. Kekkelbekmeeu was a favourite," Minnie chuckles. He said Birdlife South Africa is the organisation which would be responsible for determining the Afrikaans name.

On 10 February Minnie told the Advertiser the laughing gull had been named roetvlerkmeeu in Afrikaans.

Rayne said that since the laughing gull had made its appearance in Mossel Bay, the interest in birdwatching in his housing complex had trebled.

Photos: Eduard Drost