gulls (1 Viewer)

[tittletattler]

pic 3 - a 3cy YL.

Excellent pics as always Cristian. I'm looking forward to that website.8-P

I had a very similar bird to this recently. The dark, streaky hood threw me at first but luckily there were some other gull enthusiasts nearby who were also happy that the bird was a Yellow-legged. Of course it flew off as the 3 second timer on my camera got to '1'.

Andy.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Nice ones Cristian, showing many good viewings from different angels.

JanJ

Unfortunately the place will be soon unproper for taking pics with gulls, because the temperatures are high now and the ice is melting...

 

[lou salomon]

hi cristian,

in pic 6 you can see the primary pattern of common gull, re the question for the ukarainian caspian gull showing less black on outer 2 primaries: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=132392&highlight=caspian+gull

the 4cy bird in the second pic has a small p9 mirror which is unusal for a 3rd winter YLG.

and yes, both birds, pics 6-10 are 2nd winters (3cy).

thanks for sharing. all pics from 21st and 22nd are shot in tineretului i suppose?

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Hi Lou,
Yes, all the pics are from Tineretului. So, the one with the small white mirror on P9 is an adult YL, isn't it?

 

[lou salomon]

no, it is a 4cy allright, like you said - see the dark marks on primary coverts and even the central rectrice seems to have a dark patch. i just wanted to highlight that it is unusual.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

no, it is a 4cy allright, like you said - see the dark marks on primary coverts and even the central rectrice seems to have a dark patch. i just wanted to highlight that it is unusual.

OK Lou, maybe the right words would be "it is ANOTHER unusual gull"...
Three days with rain and fog here in Bucharest. Annoying days...

 

[lou salomon]

the "unusual" ones are in the majority in LWHG.
i should have said that this feature (p9 mirror) is sth. i haven't seen yet in a 4cy YLG, enough precisation? fog here too...

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Some pics with gulls taken on December 27th 2008 (Calarasi). Sorry for the IQ!

 

[lou salomon]

salut cristian,

as i have already written to you i think, these are all adult type cachinnans. see the extermely large mirrors (p9 as well) and long tongues in the last bird. the first one is a bit irritating since it has a small p9 mirror.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Salut Lou,

All the large gulls seen there were cachinnas. I don't remember any michahellis, but to be honest, I saw few from an acceptable distance for ID. Simply I was browsing the old pics... hard to take some new ones these days...

 

[lou salomon]

this one from hungary looks a bit strange, a friend from romania draw my attention to it, telling it has features of both cachinnans and michahellis, ... what do you think?: http://www.birding.hu/img/26493-DZ1GC4UFBHQWQUS7NX230XURP7XXK4KH there are more pics of this bird, i haven't seen them yet.

edit: now i have seen them. looks like a strongly marked 2cy caspian with a very broad tail band and strong bill. possibly even one of the polish hybrids?
can't post the pics without permission.

cheers,

 

[lou salomon]

Salut Lou,

All the large gulls seen there were cachinnas. I don't remember any michahellis, but to be honest, I saw few from an acceptable distance for ID. Simply I was browsing the old pics... hard to take some new ones these days...

hi cristian,

among the pics i received (comana, 23.10.2008) at least these 3-5 birds, all 1cy, are michahellis. however the last one probably is a heavy billed caspian.

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Yes Lou, you're right. But Comana in October it isn't the same thing with Calarasi in December . And, on the other hand, I suppose that it is more likely to see cachinnans in the Danube area (like Calarasi), in any season.
Also Comana it isn't a very good site for large gulls - meaning that in Comana we don't see many large gulls. But I would say that most of them are usualy michahellis. After all, Comana is at only 30 kilometers from Bucharest.

 

[lou salomon]

oh, yupp, confused calarasi and comana, true. nonetheless michahellis is the more common species seen at danube, and i strongly suspect it to breed on roofs in calarasi as well. from september to december however i think that migrating/wintering caspians roost on the large lake near the city possibly outnumbering yellow-legged gull.

 

[lou salomon]

juvenile plumaged common gull

had a weird 2cy common gull here in stuttgart today.
it appeared totally juvenile plumaged, no sign of grey on mantle and scaps. this is said to occure, but rare (according to olsen in "gulls") and on 'gull-research' they say that heinei often wears juv plumage well into december. so i assume it was heinei.

never seen that before, do you? any pics of such birds from midwinter?

 

[Cristian Mihai]

had a weird 2cy common gull here in stuttgart today.
it appeared totally juvenile plumaged, no sign of grey on mantle and scaps. this is said to occure, but rare (according to olsen in "gulls") and on 'gull-research' they say that heinei often wears juv plumage well into december. so i assume it was heinei.

never seen that before, do you? any pics of such birds from midwinter?

No. This bird it isn't a very advanced one, but you can see some adult feathers (pics taken in January 7th).

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Caspian Gull - Herastrau Park - 02.02.2009

 

[Cristian Mihai]

I was taking pics with the gull from the post above (#757) when another bird from the same species landed nearby...This one seems to be a subadult.

 

[lou salomon]

hi cristian,

nice couple of "albatrosses" - that's how a german birder called them when seeing good numbers in the danube delta. especially males can look extremely snouty. http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures.php?id=showpicture&picture_id=3359

yes, the 2nd bird seems to be a 4/5cy on smaller primary tips and strong subterminal bill mark.

 

[lou salomon]

graellsii/intermedius or heuglini

on 19. january an adult paler mantled LBBG has been photographed in western romania (near oradea). pics attached. structurally (shortish legs, shortish bill) i favour intermedius over heuglini but of course this is pure guesswork as there's no way to separate them safely in the field yet.
any opinions?