[lou salomon]

nice, cris, - any closeups ?

[Cristian Mihai]

I have some close up shots with three birds - you'll have to wait until tomorrow...

[Cristian Mihai]

Herastrau - February 28th 2013.
1 - 2cy Caspian Gulls
2 - 3cy Yellow-legged Gull
3 & 4 - 2cy Caspian Gull
5 - 2cy Yellow-legged Gull (?)

[lou salomon]

1 actually shows a 3cy caspian gull (left), note clearcut rel. large p10 tongue and white tips to inner primaries, and the other one is a 2cy, looks more like micha to me, but hard to ID from this pic.
all other birds are ID-ed and aged correctly. what a big brute this male 2cy cach is. and note the pale getting iris in the last micha (not happening in cachi).

cheers

[Laurie93]

Hi, this gull is probably just a Herring gull, but the head with the little black eye made it look a bit like a Caspian gull. I am far from an expert on gulls so I would really appreciate some comments on it.

[lou salomon]

hi laurie,

primary pattern excludes caspian and yellow-legged gull, this is a subadult (probably 4th cycle = 5cy if taken recently) herring gull. some HGs have the odd dark iris.

best

[Tib78]

A French Herring gull from the Cap Fréhel colony taken this week. Interesting primary pattern with more black on wingtip than expected from a typical argenteus, noticeable on P6 and especially P5 showing a complete black subterminal band. P9 mirror rather big as well. Comments welcome in case I missed anything (wouldn't surprise me, Gull ID is not my forte!) otherwise I guess that one will join the 'not typical but still a Herring' gallery...

[lou salomon]

i think peter adriaens can tell you best the likeliness of p5-band argenteus. it seems to happen in both argentatus and teus, well known from eastern baltic birds but as i recall peter told they occure in teus-populations also. would be nice to see a ventral wing view for tongue shapes. thanks for sharing, tibault.
recently i was struggling with a similar problems with some record shots of puatative argentatus from romania, all with remarkable head striation in january, tatus-body structure and bare parts plus long cachi-like tongues plus a solid p5 mark - a combo that caused some headache.

[Tib78]

Thanks for the feedback Lou.

No other pic unfortunately. To be honest I only noticed the peculiar primary pattern when reviewing the image on my camera screen a few minutes after I took it. And I failed to relocate the bird among the 50 or so adults also present. FWIW, thi individual did not stand out from the crowd, be it in terms of shape, mantle/bare parts colour or voice (I saw/heard it performing long call while landing, as can be seen on the picture).

[Tib78]

I am a bit confused by this bird. Seen today. Opinions please.

[lou salomon]

hi tib,

got to be a slightly unusual michahellis. without grey median covert bar, no p10 tongue abd retarded bare parts. but pattern and whitish appearance on body and head is very like mich.

best,

[Cristian Mihai]

Caspian Gull in Herastrau Park, March 15th 2013

[Tib78]

Originally Posted by lou salomon

hi tib,

got to be a slightly unusual michahellis. without grey median covert bar, no p10 tongue abd retarded bare parts. but pattern and whitish appearance on body and head is very like mich.

best,

Thanks for that Lou. I guess it's not a difficult bird for you .

A slightly retarded 2nd winter michahellis. That's what I suspected, but I thought I'd double-check. I am really not confident when it comes to immature gulls.

[Cristian Mihai]

Fundulea (CL), April 14th 2013

[Archie Opteryx]

I've posted a link in the ringing section but as a fair few larophiles hang out here, thought I might cross-post - an uncoded colour ring on Herring Gull?

Cheers!

[lou salomon]

Originally Posted by Cristian Mihai

Fundulea (CL), April 14th 2013

the 2nd is astonishing difficult but might as well be a cachinnans - like the other two.
1. a 2cy male
2. a 5cy (is that dirt on its tail or are they really retained blackish marks?), also male
3. 3rd or 4th cycle (4cy or 5cy) cachi.

[Tsingy]

http://dogalhayat.org/property/van-g...i/#prettyPhoto

Hi Everyone, I want to get your opinion about this gull. Thanks for now.

[lou salomon]

head and bill shape, covert and tail pattern all fit the local, default larus armenicus (a 1st cycle).

[Tsingy]

Thanks Lou.

[Qingcol]

First of all let me apologise for the poor image quality, nevertheless this Gull struck me as being very different from the accompanying Herring Gulls (Today Cornwall) Smaller like Common Gull, flat belly and elongated hindparts, rounder head, dark eyes, shorter stubbier extremely bright yellow bill, almost clean under-wing. Can anyone see features that would rule out small female ‘argenteus’ or suggest ‘armenicus’?
Colin

[lou salomon]

it's `just` a well-developed (bright bill and nice grey saddle) "2nd summer" (3cy) argenteus herring gull, colin, a small female recalling common gull in head shape - surely not an armenian which e.g. would have different wing pattern (more grey coverts) and bright yellow legs now: http://www.gull-research.org/armenic.../3cyapr05.html

[Qingcol]

Originally Posted by lou salomon

it's `just` a well-developed (bright bill and nice grey saddle) "2nd summer" (3cy) argenteus herring gull, colin, a small female recalling common gull in head shape - surely not an armenian which e.g. would have different wing pattern (more grey coverts) and bright yellow legs now: http://www.gull-research.org/armenic.../3cyapr05.html

Many thanks Lou, I just don't appear to see them with dark eyes.
Colin

[Tsingy]

From today, Samsun-TURKEY. I want to ask your opinions. Thanks.

[lou salomon]

that's a tough one, tsingy, a very advanced 2cy, most probably michahellis (pale irides in 1st summer are a strong indication as are the rel. coarse patterned coverts but many things also remind of eastern ("cachoid") taxons...scpulars with many 3rd gen. grey feathers.