As I've already mentioned, while I was in Portugal I wanted to take a good look at the Yellow-legged Gulls. These gulls should look similar to the ones we see in Leicestershire, but I was expecting to see some un-familiar ones from further north and west.
Most of them did look the same as the ones that turn up at various sites here in Leicestershire, but some had similar streaking on the head and neck to Herring Gulls at this time of year and maybe a more Herring Gull look about them.
Below is a selection of Yellow-legged Gulls taken in southern Portugal during late September and early October 2013. The first five are of adult birds that to me are not typical of the birds we see in the UK:
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| Ringed in South-west Spain |
Next is a selection of typical adult Yellow-legged Gull Larus Michahellis:
As you can see none of the adult Yellow-legged Gulls above have anywhere near as much streaking on their heads as the Azorean Gull I photographed at the same locality.
Below is a selection of immature Yellow-legged Gulls:
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| First-winter Yellow-legged Gull |
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| First-winter Yellow-legged Gull |
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| First-winter Yellow-legged Gull |
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First-winter Yellow-legged Gull
First-winter Yellow-legged Gull
First-winter Yellow-legged Gull |
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| Second-winter Yellow-legged Gull |
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Second-winter Yellow-legged Gull
Second-winter Yellow-legged Gull
Second-winter Yellow-legged Gull
Retarded Third-winter Yellow-legged Gull
A few flight shots of first-winter and second-winters to finish with:
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