Small gull juv, Latvia (bad pic.) (1 Viewer)

CerambyX

Well-known member

• Nov 1, 2012

• #1

Hi,

Maybe someone wants to try to ID this gull from just this one crap photo? o
Can't really add anything much more than it is seen in the picture - saw this gull with naked eye in fast flight with deep-ish wingbeats (that caught my attention) departing into the fog and managed to snap only this one frame.

I guess there are only two options - Little or Sabine's Gull. First one being common over here, second - very rare.

What's your opinion? Have fun! B

Thanks in advance!

 

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Last edited: Nov 2, 2012

Jacana

Will Jones

• Nov 1, 2012

• #2

looks good for Little

 

Songkhran

Well-known member

• Nov 1, 2012

• #3

Brown covert bar, and black wedge on primaries, also brownish head suggests juv Sabine's but very difficult from this one photo

 

Valéry Schollaert

Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s

• Nov 2, 2012

• #4

Brown covert bar, and black wedge on primaries, also brownish head suggests juv Sabine's but very difficult from this one photo

Click to expand...

This is my feeling too!

 

CerambyX

Well-known member

• Nov 2, 2012

• #5

Pomskua said:

Brown covert bar, and black wedge on primaries, also brownish head suggests juv Sabine's but very difficult from this one photo

Click to expand...

Well, that was also my first feeling after looking at photo in display... Such a shame I didn't notice this gull some 5-10 seconds earlier - if I had seen some additional features with binos, than there would be higher possibility for it to be accepted as Sabine's gull (would be only 9th record). If it was one, of course.

What about fog? Do pelagic gulls occasionally come closer to the coastline when there is thick fog? Not that it could be used as a 'ID feature', but I'm just curious.

 

dantheman

Bah humbug

• Nov 2, 2012

• #6

CerambyX said:

What about fog? Do pelagic gulls occasionally come closer to the coastline when there is thick fog? Not that it could be used as a 'ID feature', but I'm just curious.

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Seabirds do, simply because they can no longer see the land they usually try and keep away from. A couple of years ago we had a (then) record count of Balearic Shearwaters (+ Yelkouan Shearwater) off the south Cornwall coast on a foggy day. Plus a Sabine's Gull (rare on that coast).

 

CerambyX

Well-known member

• Nov 2, 2012

• #7

dantheman said:

Seabirds do, simply because they can no longer see the land they usually try and keep away from. A couple of years ago we had a (then) record count of Balearic Shearwaters (+ Yelkouan Shearwater) off the south Cornwall coast on a foggy day. Plus a Sabine's Gull (rare on that coast).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! Haven't really done too much sea-watching so not much experience in different weather coditions (yet)! But that day visibility was exteremely poor (150-200m at best) - scope was useless :-O

 

Songkhran

Well-known member

• Nov 2, 2012

• #8

Well good luck if you are going to write a description - I don't think you have much to lose!

 

lou salomon

the birdonist

• Nov 3, 2012

• #9

difficult with this pic alone but my feelings also go towards sabine's gull. front wing seems to be all dark.

 

CerambyX

Well-known member

• Nov 15, 2012

• #10

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the opinions! Sent the picture + a description (not much in there, obviously) to our equivalent of rarities committee, but no decision yet. I don't have my hopes high though, as I'm aware that it's difficult to make a judgement from just one awful photo. Birds can look deceivingly different in crap photos than they look in real life.