2cy large gull, S Yorks, April (1 Viewer)

[davpen]

Just looking for opinions on this gull which was at a local res a week or so ago. This was all I saw of it, as it flew off unseen soon after I arrived. Thanks.

Dave

 

[lou salomon]

ticks some caspian boxes but something's not allright with it (head jizz, bill shape). more pics (open wings, upperside, tail pattern, upperside) would be needed to confirm a hybrid, otherwise i'd let it unidentified.

 

[davpen]

Thanks Lou, that's more or less what I was thinking. I'll let it go.

Dave

 

[SteveClifton]

Well I opened the image before reading any comments and thought 'obvious Caspian Gull candidate.'

Now, having read the comments I'm struggling to see where this bird is so obviously falling short (of course, with all the usual caveats of judging a bird from one image, no open wing etc). I can see that the (very worn) greater coverts are perhaps more boldly barred than those of a perfectly classic example, but that's really the only thing obvious here that might let it down. Judging the bill on such a brightly lit image, with those reflections, makes getting a proper judgement a little more of a challenge, but there are many images of Caspian Gulls online that look just like this bird.

Surely this one deserves at least the benefit of the doubt...?!

 

[KenM]

The eye doesn’t look “small” relative to the head size which is also not particularly flat, perhaps a hybrid of sorts?

 

[davpen]

Obviously its difficult to judge eg head shape from one image but in the few seconds I was actually watching it the jizz didn't strike me as classically Caspian. Plumage-wise I thought it looked ok. It still annoys me that it must have flown off when I turned to get my tripod from the car (the scope was balanced on a wall for these pics). Anyway, here's another one.

 

[SteveClifton]

Obviously its difficult to judge eg head shape from one image but in the few seconds I was actually watching it the jizz didn't strike me as classically Caspian. Plumage-wise I thought it looked ok. It still annoys me that it must have flown off when I turned to get my tripod from the car (the scope was balanced on a wall for these pics). Anyway, here's another one.

Can see what you mean in the new image Dave-though hard to judge properly even with the additional pic. But still, frustrating that it gave you the slip!