The overall appearance of the bird was certainly rather pale ...
... the head had only minimal mottling and the rump was completely lacking in dark markings in the central area ...
... when I arrived at the harbour the bird was puffed up and looking none too healthy as it swam slowly around the moored boats and took shelter under the pontoons ...
... as it swam it used only the left leg with the right leg trailing behind ...
... after half an hour there seemed little prospect that it was going to do anything ( except perhaps die ) that would provide a view of the open wing ...
... when I returned after checking the rest of the harbour to where the bird was lingering it seemed a little more animated ...
... it swam to an area of open water and began 'snorkelling ' ...
... and then dived ...
... the outer wing was completely black and lacked the white area on the inner wing extending onto the primary coverts which is the case with mandtii ...
... the white patch on the inner wing showed three dark interrupted lines indicating that this is a first winter bird ...
... it performed another two dives after 'snorkelling' briefly each time ...
... on one occasion it caught and swallowed what appeared to be a small crab ...
... it seems that some individuals of the presumed race arcticus have a much paler appearance than is the norm ...
... the race mandtii which breeds in the High Arctic has been recorded in Norway, Iceland , New York and The Netherlands ... it was once considered a full species - Mandt's Guillemot
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