Some imm. Gulls, Wales (1 Viewer)

Sorry to put yet another Gull ID thread on here but these have got me wondering.
This first bird had me thinking yellow legged from the flight shot but the tertails are not right, if i thought right? Its got a pale 'window' in the wing so does that rule out lesser black backed?

I thought this bird might the same as the first, but theres an obvious difference in the tertails. i didnt get a flight shot as i was trying to get shots of a odd herring gull, so wasnt concentrating on this bird. but what do you guys think?

and finally.....

a mate asked me to post these as he couldn't figure it out. from what he said it was a very large bill, yellowish in colour with a dark tip, very white head and rump, with black tail band. My feelings are its a second winter herring, but can you guys make anything out that suggests otherwise?

Hi Luke.

Your gulls in post 1 & 2 are Herring Gulls. The flight shot prove it so to speak, with pale innner primaries contrastin well with rest of outer wing.
Regarding tertial pattern - it´s obviously to different birds in each post, the first has a diferent pattern with wider pale tips and edges, while the other one has a more plain pattern. This difference in tertials are due to both wear and variation. The overall structure and plumage features is in good line with Herring over YLG.

http://www.iesmeulmeester.nl/fotos.php?actie=subcat&subcat=16

http://www.iesmeulmeester.nl/fotos.php?actie=subcat&subcat=60

For the gull in post 3 I recomend a 2cy LBBG.

http://www.gull-research.org/lbbg2cyd/lbbg2cynovdec.html

JanJ

Thanks Jan.