Stonefaction
Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
While looking through the gulls at a local pond in Dundee, Scotland today, this very dark individual stood out among the Herring Gulls. In particular the overall brown-ish look and especially the almost solid belly colouring which made me think of American Herring Gull (or at least my rather limited knowledge of them). Having had a wee read of the relevant sections in a few places there seems to be a possibility that the tail markings might also point towards AHG, especially the undertail barring which looks rather heavy. With Herring Gulls in particular I still struggle to know what features I should be looking at to differentiate, so I will not be surprised to find that this bird is nothing other than a dark individual European Herring Gull, but I'd rather get a second/third/fourth opinion, just in case it is something good.