Tuesday 10 February 2015

White-Winger, but no Cigar

Last Saturday was quite a slow day at Shawell, as the gulls preferred distant fields rather than the attractions of the landfill or the cool waters of the A5 Lagoons.

During the morning small numbers came to the lagoons and amongst them was a 'white-winged' gull, but not an Iceland or Glaucous Gull. It was too elegant for a Glaucous and not quite right for an Iceland. The primaries had greyish markings not unlike a Kumlien's Gull, but again I didn't feel it was quite right for one of those either.

Its wings were really long, which might suit Iceland, but too me it was a bit too Herring Gull like. At the time I thought it was most likely to be an aberrant Herring Gull.

The video below gives the best impression of what I saw. Note how its tertials seem to stand up and how thin its wing tip looks.


As always I welcome any opinions.


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