Friday 29 March 2013

More White-wingers and a Pit Fall

I had a quick look at Shawell on Wednesday and had a full day there yesterday. The highlights were two Glaucous Gulls and the faded 1st-winter Iceland Gull from a couple of weeks back. 

I learnt a lot from a leucistic bird, which initially trapped me into thinking it might be a Kumlien's Gull. Beware of zooming up your camera to check plumage details, as you lose size perspective, as I did. At home when I reviewed the photos I quickly realised that the bird was too big for a Kumlien's, but the plumage isn't that far out at a glance. It may well be a small GBB Gull, so my initial thoughts were a long way out. It is good to face these challenges as hopefully you learn from it. Though the camera tricked me, it once again demonstrates the value of being able to review images later on in case a mistake has been made.
Glaucous Gull
1st-winter Glaucous Gull
1st-winter Glaucous Gull
1st-winter Iceland Gull
Leucistic Gull
Leucistic Gull

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