Odd BOP NEast London (1 Viewer)

[Ratal]

Ran them through a barrage of software - that is 100% a Red Kite with tail flexing.

 

[PYRTLE]

 

[KenM]

Well the consensus seems to be a Red Kite x Large Gull hybrid...I’m duly impressed...it’s been most entertaining.😂👍

 

[Farnboro John]

Ran them through a barrage of software - that is 100% a Red Kite with tail flexing.

Please show us the results! (If Ken is all right with that?)

John

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Ken,

I hope this doesnt come out as an offense, you know, but I still hope for this:
Is it possible to see all original (=straight out of the camera) pictures?

This might doesnt help with confident identification, but might well help with the question I asked for.

Apart from ID of this bird, your pictures highlights one problem very well:
I got the feeling, that the best fit is a Red Kite, and than looked for reasons. And I judged the features, that gave this impression for real

• kinked wingtip
• whitish inner primarie window
• orange colouration, including whitish tail with an orange-buffish hue just visible. Yes your bird is at the paler end of RK tail-colour, but easy within variation
• your impression thats a BOP

while I skipped the features, that doesnt fit, as results of picture/sharpening artefacts or single picture effects

• short tail
• contrasting black secondaries
• that kinked wing can easily be the result of dropped inner primaries, moulting gulls can then give a similar kinked wings-impression, too.

But the placement of a feature in one of those two caterogies is only made with my aim to support my gut-feeling (I just wrote identification, but thats the wrong word here, thanks John Cantelo). This is surely not usefull with a picture of this quality, as the result is with a high degree of certainty an identification, that isnt backed by valuable features. Yes it can be useful with easier or better quality pictures, but not here. As always ...

 

[John Cantelo]

Given that far better photos can still distort our perception of a bird's jizz, shape and colour I think it's tilting at windmills to pick on aspects of this photo and imagine they will in any way bring us closer to resolving its identity or tell us anything very interesting. Our brains are always good at picking out patterns .... even when they're not really there.

 

[KenM]

FWIW Alexander, here are three straight out of the can without any correction apart from being heavily cropped.

Cheers

 

[Rotherbirder]

The old adage about silk purses & sow's ears springs to mind!

RB

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Yes, everything is said already, but I just wanted to thank Ken for adding the original pictures. I hoped for less "artefact-damaged" pictures, but they just support the statement, that heavy artefacts of the blown up pixels alters details (not enough pixel coverage for that resolution), so the bird changed from possible Red kite to unidable to me.
No offense to Tom: with your level of experience it might still be an unidable bird with the impression of a Red Kite and to all others