stevethehydra
Well-known member
Saw a couple of Common Gull threads and was reminded of this gull I saw on a roof in Leeds on September 2nd. I was a bit perplexed by it at the time, as it seemed larger than a Common or Black-headed, but smaller than a Herring or any close relative - maybe approaching the smaller end of Lesser Black-backed size. (I know size estimation is problematic on a lone bird, but while no other bird was on the same roof with it, there were Common and BHGs on another nearby roof visible at the same time, and a crow and a pigeon flew near it, so I feel like my impression of size was fairly accurate...)
It also looked quite long-legged and very long-winged, and darker-mantled than a "normal-looking" Common Gull on the other roof (last pic with the BHG, included for comparison). I was leaning towards it being a runty, slightly pale-looking LBBG at the time, but on looking at the photos at home it clearly looks more like a Common Gull. Just individual variation, or could it be something like the Russian subspecies?
It also looked quite long-legged and very long-winged, and darker-mantled than a "normal-looking" Common Gull on the other roof (last pic with the BHG, included for comparison). I was leaning towards it being a runty, slightly pale-looking LBBG at the time, but on looking at the photos at home it clearly looks more like a Common Gull. Just individual variation, or could it be something like the Russian subspecies?
