Chris Gibbins - gulls & birds

Some example second winter Kumlien's Gulls

2012-01-24T23:28:00.001-08:00

These are some examples of 2w Kumlien's Gulls from St John's, NF (February), some very dark, some very pale.

Record-breaking weekend: Kumlien's and lots more Iceland Gulls

2012-01-22T23:33:00.000-08:00

The weekend of 21/22 Jan produced around 25 white-winged Gulls, including these four captured together at Peterhead.

My highlight of the weekend was this second-winter Kumlien's, here showing off its primary pattern to full effect.

The same Kumlien's

The Kumlien's

For comparison, here is an Iceland of the same age.

3w Iceland. Interesting to compare this with the 3w kums at Fraserburgh. Pictured below is a selection of the Iceland Gulls present at Peterhead.

This adult shows a rather pepperd iris, as per Kumlien's. However, there is no evidence of any darkening in the primaries, and it was not possible to compare its upperpart grey tone directly with the glaucoides present; so at the moment is it best left as an Iceland.

The same bird

A different adult glaucoides

Shades of pale: another Kumlien's, plus lots more Glaucous and Iceland Gulls

2012-01-15T22:13:00.001-08:00

Another superb weekend of gulling. All day Saturday and all day Sunday at Peterhead and Fraserburgh produced 19 white winged gulls - 8 Glaucous, 10 Iceland and a new Kumlien's. The total is remarkably similar to the number of loaves of bread used getting these photos...

A melee

3w Kumlien's, found by Paul Baxter and myself on saturday. A real beauty

The pattern is beginning to 'ghost' that shown by ads, with a large mirror on p10

The kumlien's was supported by a cast of Iceland and Glaucous, including this lovely ad Iceland

ad Iceland

3w Iceland

2w Iceland - a darkish bird with some stippling in primaries

2w Iceland - the same bird as above. Although stippled, the pattern of pale and dark in the primaries is all wrong for kum's.

another 2w Iceland

a different dark Iceland - this one from peterhead. Again, though dark, the pattern in the primaries is not correct for identifiable kums.

Thes same dark 2w from Peterhead

A pale 2w Iceland

1w Iceland. The paler of the two 1w birds present at Peterhead

1w Glaucous - this one has been around for a week

2w Glaucous - another bird that has been around for a while

2 w Glaucous - the same bird as above.

Adult Kumlien's Gull, Peterhead, 12 Jan

2012-01-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

This beauty was present yesterday afternoon. It is at the paler end of the Kumlien's range -formally, it has what can be described as 'stage 1' primary pigmentation (Howell and Mactavish, 2003). Its eye is slightly cloudy and its upperpart grey tone fractionally darker than a glaucoides.

White-winged Gull festival

2012-01-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

A major arrival of white-winged gulls occurred on 5 January. Over the course of this and the following day, 8 Glaucous and 7 Iceland Gulls were present at Fraserburgh and Peterhead (totals combining both sites). This post shows many of these birds - the images are not all great, but at least they record a reasonable selection of the individuals that were present.

Notice the ticks on the Glaucous above. Virtually all of the birds carried these passengers - in fact we used the number and distribution of ticks to help distinguish between some of the more similar individuals. I've seen these ticks on white wingers in previous years.

Same Glaucous as above

A different bird

A different (rather dark) individual - this one appeared briefly at Peterhead

A pale (ish) bird from Fraserburgh

In the fish skip

Same bird as the image above

Two second winter birds were present at Peterhead

Same bird as above

The second individual - rather tatty

The tatty bird.

This beautiful ghostly Iceland Gull appeared at Fraserburgh on 7th; it is not quite fully adult

The same bird. Some light fawn stippling on the primary coverts and along the basal half of the outer webs of some of the outer primaries; the stippling faded out, leaving the outer parts of the primaries pure white.

A second winter Iceland from Peterhead (close views revealed a pale eye, while the bill was extensively bright pink, including a pale tip).

And the long-staying first winter bird was present along the Phingask shoreline.

A new Glaucous and an extreme 'argie'

2012-01-02T00:30:00.001-08:00

This 'new' Glaucous was at Fraserburgh on 31 December - the 5th of the winter here.

This bird is interesting and puzzling. If it is 'just' an argentatus, then it is an extremely white-winged one. We see many otherwise typical argies approaching this each winter in NE Scotland, and although this individual is extreme, it is tempting to suggest that it simply represents the extreme pale winged end of the spectrum. It has dark grey upperparts matching argy and its head and facial expression say Herring Gull. But it is oddly short-legged, something which imparts a rather iceland Gull quality to it. What a great bird!

Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, Fraserburgh

2011-12-30T02:20:00.001-08:00

The Glaucous and Iceland Gulls are still present in Fraserbugh, coming in to bread. I saw both birds on 27 and 28 Dec; they have been around since late Nov.

Glaucous

Iceland

1cy gulls from Azerbaijan

2011-12-12T02:20:00.000-08:00

I spent 11-24 September of this year in Azerbaijan. The main aim of the trip was to study Caspian Gull in the core of its range, away from the hybrid zone(s). I arrived hoping to see only Caspian, but it soon became clear (based on adults) that other taxa were present. This of course muddied the water as far as the identification of the 1cy birds was concerned. With this in mind, here is a selection of the 1 cy birds present at Sijazan. To simplify matters, all are from the same 2 day period - in this context, note the different extent of moult and wear on these individuals.

I think many/most are Caspian but some I'm not sure about. Actually I have not had time to really work through all the birds, so I thought I would post them up here and share them. At the end are a few birds that are clearly not Caspian.

I hope you find the variability as bewildering as I do. In a post to follow I will put up images showing underwings.

This and the birds which follow dont look like caspian Gulls to me.

This seems to be a heuglini candidate?

Same bird - very fresh and frosty; ike a LBB type

And another.

Herring Gull from Finnmark

2011-12-11T23:08:00.000-08:00

This bird was present at Fraserburgh on 3 December. It is from Hornøya, Vardø, Finnmark, Norway (70°23'16"N 031°09'21"E).

Glaucous and Iceland Gulls, Fraserburgh

2011-12-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

These two birds were present at Fraserburgh Yesterday (Sunday 11 Dec). Both have been around the area for a couple of weeks, but yesterday they were in the harbour for the first time and came to bread. At times (as in the pic above) the Glaucous was too close to fit the whole bird in the image.

Iceland Gull

Glaucous Gull (same bird in remaineder of images below)

A 'frosty' Great Black-backed Gull

2011-12-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a fairly normal GBB gulls (4 Dec 2011) from Peterhead.

Here is the underwing of a fairly normal GBB (same date and location as above)

And here is a view of the upperparts showing fairly typical lesser and median coverts and tail.

Then cut to this bird that was present at Peterhead on Sunday; it is a really stunning thing. In the pics that follow, note how little dark it has in the tail, the very pale underwing and the extensively pale lesser and median coverts. Ive seen presumed GBB x Glaucous hybrids in Newfoundland but they had milky primaries. This bird shows no such signs of hybrid origin and I assume it is 'merley' an extremely frosty GBB. It is a real beauty.

Aberdeenshire white-winged gulls, winter 2011-12

2011-12-05T00:32:00.000-08:00

This post is an attempt to keep tabs on how many white-winged gulls are present this winter in the Fraserburgh-Peterhead area. I will number each individual Glaucous and Iceland Gull in the order that I see them. I will update the post each time I see/photograph a new individual.

Glaucous no 5, Fraserburgh. Primary pattern and the darker and smoother underparts (and rear neck) differentiate this bird from the others present at this site.

Glaucous no.1, Peterhead

Glaucous no. 1, Peterhead.

Glaucous no 2, Fraserbugh - a very heavily chevroned bird. Note contrast between inner and outer primaries

Glaucous no 2, Fraserburgh.

Iceland no 1, Fraserburgh. First seen 27 Nov; still present 4 Dec.

Iceland no 1, Fraserburgh.

Glaucous no 3, Peterhead. Clearly different to bird 1 that was also present at this location; Glaucous 3 was only seen once.

Glaucous no 3.

Glaucous no 4, Fraserburgh. A rather whitish bird; much paler on the face than bird 2, with much less strongly marked primary coverts (see image below). Also, note the distinctive staining on the very worn, pale primaries visible in the image below.

Glaucous no 4, Fraserburgh.

International Gull Meeting, Croatia, Feb 2012.

2011-11-29T00:35:00.000-08:00

The next International Gull Meeting (IGM) will be in Croatia early next year. It promises to be great fun. Luka has asked if I can encourage anyone interested in attending to look at information on the talks and field programme that be found at:

www.biom.hr/igm

It promises to be great meeting.

(the bird above is a heuglini, photographed in Azerbaijan this Sept. If time permits I will show show some pics of other gulls from this trip at the meeting).

Chris

Kumlien's conundrum

2011-11-22T23:47:00.001-08:00

The bird currently in Scotland (the 'Dunbeg Gull') is really forcing our understanding of Kumlien's-Thayer's ID. This post shows a few birds that might help the discussion. First are some examples what I think are acceptable Thayer's (birds 1 to 6), all from California. These are followed by some problematic cases.

Bird 1
Bird 2.

Bird 3.

Bird 4

Bird 5.

Bird 6. And finally a dark end Thayer's.

Bird 7. Looks like Kumlien's but it is at Petaluma, California!

Bird 7. Showing inner primaries

Bird 8. Another pale bird from California (January). It is rather fresh so pale tones are true pigment rather then wear/bleaching . To me more likely to be pale Thayer's, but clearly would not be acceptable in Europe.

Bird 8 again.

Bird 9. California. Not sure what this is. Looks more like a Kums, but could be some large gull hybrid combination (maybe some Glaucous-winged genes?). Arrowheads in prims indicate that it is not/should not be ID'd as Thayer's

Bird 10. What I think is a pale end Thayer's. Very like an Irish bird from a few years ago that was considered unidentifiable in a European context.

Bird 11. Presumed dark Kumlien's, Newfoundland. But still has arrowheads in prims.

Bird 12. darkish Kumlien's, Newfoundland.

Bird 13. Mid-darkish Kumlien's, Newfoundland. Not really like a Thayer's

Bird 14. dark Kumlien's Newfoundland; dark but again not really Thayer's like.

Bird 15. Mid-range Kumlien's, Newfoundland.

Bird 16. Darkish Kumlien's Newfound. Despite being darker than average, this and the other NF bird never quite manage to look like Thayer's (in flight, their wings are rather too uniform). But there are darker birds out there - Dave Brown who lives at St Johns has some really scary pics. The birds that really throw me are the paler Californian ones that look like mid-paler end Kumien's.

'Sailed eiders', Ythan Estuary, 9 Oct 2011

2011-11-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

Eiders are at their most fresh just after the moult and so this is a good time to look for sails. Wear can make sails look tatty, and as the winter progresses it can become increasingly difficult to establish what their true shape is/was. This set of images shows 6 different sailed birds from the Ythan estuary, all photographed on the same day. But to start with, above and below are two unsailed birds.

A non-sailed bird with a dull bill.

This and the birds that follow show a variety of sails shapes, bill colours and head profiles.

Sailed bird in background, but near bird shows nothing of any significance.

Sailed females are rare here - Ive seen less than 5 in total. These two birds are not sailed.

Greenland

2011-10-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

I spent 11-22 August of this year in Greenland, working in streams and rivers draining the Greenland Ice Sheet (above). Our base was Kangerluusuaq, a view of which is shown in the photo below. I managed to find time for some birding, mainly looking for gulls but also taking an interest in the Redpolls.

A view of Kangerluusuaq.

The edge of Greenland Ice sheet; impressive!

The town dump has lots of white-winged gulls: here a mixture of Glaucous and Iceland.

1cy Iceland Gull

1cy Peregrine

Lapland Buntings were very common

There is of course a lot of interest in Redpoll ID and taxonomy, so this selection of Greenland Redpolls, photographed in Greenland, may be useful.

Some birds from Azerbaijan

2011-09-28T09:01:00.001-07:00

This post shows some birds (and scenery) from a 2 week trip (11-24 Sept of this year). Above is a Black-winged Pratincole.

Sunrise over Baku on my first day.

Sunrise over the Caspian Sea, 100 km North of Baku.

A view of the coastline, from the mountains at Corbustan, approx 50 km S from Baku.

A typical coastal landscape, with the oil legacy clearly evident.

Coastal bushes c 100 km North of Baku where I spent most of the trip, looking for migrants.

My campsite in the Caucasus.

A rather wonderful sediment-laden river, Caucasus

Lammergeier and Wallcreeper territory in the Caucasus

Red-breasted Fly - an extremely common migrant

Red-backed Shrike; another common migrant

White Wagtail; note the extensively white greater coverts of the albas in this area.

Rock Sparrow

The Caucasus race of Water Pipit (coutellii) - a really sandy buffy taxon that took me by surprise

Another example.

Horned Lark - rather tatty at this time of year.

Wallcreeper

The same bird

And again.

Long-legged Buzzard

The same bird - the tail pattern gives it away as a juv

Pied Wheatear

A rather stunning Yellow Wagtail. As always, autumn birds provided headaches; I need to do some desk research when time permits, to see if this can be identified.

Ditto.

Blue Cheeked Bee-eater.

Lesser Kestrel

Roller

Rose-coloured Starling

Lesser Whitethroat

Black Redstart. More work needs doing on these; textbooks suggest ochoros should occur in Caucasus but this looks more like (but perhaps not a perfect) a semirufous to my eye.

Another.

The same individual as above

The stonechats were some of the more interesting and troublesome birds. I will add a post dedicated to these later, but this bird most resembled variagatus due to the extensive white in the bases of the outer feathers which was clearly visible in flight or when it tail-flicked.

Pallid Harrier

Caspian Gulls in the Caspian - Day 1 in Azerbaijan

2011-09-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

At last - my first ever 'Caspian Caspian'. Day 1 of the trip was spent sorting out a hire car etc, but I found some time to look at some Caspian Gulls along the main sea promenade in Baku. A great moment, to see this species within the core of its range; here they should be far from the spectre of hybrid breeding with Herring and Yellow-legged Gulls.

Glaucous Gull, Peterhead

2011-07-24T22:52:00.001-07:00

This 2 cy bird was present at Peterhead on Saturday, coming to bread at the Ugie estuary.

And a rather washed out Herring Gull - this bird has not commenced its complete moult and so all feathers are very worn and faded.

A dark-eyed Herring Gull.

First juv Yellow-legged Gulls of the year

2011-07-01T02:31:00.001-07:00

Some juvenile michahellis from Sant Carles de la Rapita, Ebro Delta, Spain taken on 26 June.

This bird shows how fine-billed some juvs can be.

Eiders, Ythan Estuary, NE Scotland.

2011-06-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

The head and bill profile varies considerably in Eider: this bird has a distinct roman nose

Yellow-legged and Audouin's Gulls, Spain, June 23

2011-06-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

All these images were taken at Sant Carles de la Rapita, on the Ebro Delta, Catalunya, Spain. I waited for the fishing boats to come back from their day at sea - always a nice opportunity to take photos. The first set is of Audouin's Gulls.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull

Another adult Yellow-legged above; below is a selection of 2 cy Yellow-legged Gulls

Note that due to moult of some 1 gen feathers and replacement with white ones, the underwing looks rather pale on this bird.

Asymmetrical Yellow-legged Gull

2011-04-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old images yesterday and came across this bird from Spain (Ebro Delta, Catalonia) from 2006. The image above shows a very unusual pattern for YLG - no black on P5 combined with a wholly white tip to P10. It also has rather limited black on P6. So overall it appears to have lots of white and little black in the wing tip. However, as can be seen in the image below, it has a more normal pattern on P5 and 6 on the left wing. Of course asymmetrical primary patterns are not so unusual in large gulls, but the asymmetry tends to be subtle - this bird is rather extreme, with no black at all on P5 on one wing and a normal amount on the other.

Catalonia, Spain, March 2011: gulls and some other things

2011-03-29T23:20:00.001-07:00

I spent 20-28 March working in Lleida, but managed a few days of birding around Tarragona and the Ebro delta. These are a few pics from the trip.

Audouin's Gull - always beauties.

Black Kites had arrived in good numbers - this is one from Lleida rubbish dump

Night Heron

Great-spotted Cuckoo - early spring is great for these birds, as they are very vocal.

Yellow-legged Gull. A bird sporting a fully white tip to p10

Yellow-legged Gull.

Yellow-legged Gull. This has an unusual p10 pattern, combining a rather long grey tongue (approx half the length of the exposed feather) and a fully white tip.

A rather more typical bird.

I spent a great couple of days in Tarragona, with Albert Cama and Joan Ferrer Obiol. Amazingly, we managed to find 3 Caspian Gulls in the harbour- two 1w birds and a 2w. These are little more than records shots, but worth posting as this species remains unusual in NE Spain. Above is one of the 1w birds, captured in a flock of Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls

The same 1w bird, with a LBB

A different 1w bird (left), showing off its jizz to full effect.

The 2w bird - subtle yet distinctive. The p10 mirror is visible on the underside of the far wing.

Some 1w Thayer's Gulls (California, December 2009)

2011-03-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

Derek - hope these help our discussion....

This one looks slightly odd, but i think it is simply because I've caught it here in an alarmed, nervous pose.

Extreme of Common Gull wing tip pattern

2011-03-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

I had this bird with an extreme amount of white in the primaries (note especially P8) at the weekend. Great looking bird, but unfortunately I cant make it into anything but a canus.

Herring Gulls: variability in first and second winter birds

2011-03-06T22:59:00.000-08:00

This is another example (several already this winter) of a rather dark tailed second winter Herring Gull. It appears to have moulted out some of the more barred upper tail coverts, so feathers here are a mix of white and barred ones. The same bird is shown below.

The same bird as above. Just a rather typical 2w herring, except for the tail.

The same bird as above.

Gull watchers in USA are on the hunt for Vega. Key to this, especially on the east coast, is separation from European Herring. Various subtle ID features have been mooted for Vega in first winter plumage, but before this we need to fully appreciate the variability in Herring Gulls. This small contribution illustrates differences in overall colour and especially the tail and rump patterns of Herring. The bird above is rather white tailed, with a narrow dark terminal band and and 2-3 clear bands more basally (formed by dark crescents) - overall, a pattern rather like a Rough-legged Buzzard.

A rather everage tail and rump pattern, with the dark terminal 'band' more than half of the total tail area and white restricted to basal triangles

Slightly more than average black in tail, and a well barred rump and upper tail coverts

A milky-coffee bird.

The same milky bird.

ALL OF THESE IMAGES WERE TAKEN AT PETERHEAD ON SATURDAY 5 MARCH

2cy Glaucous Gull, Peterhead

2011-02-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

The strong winds brought this rather dark first winter Glauc into Peterhead at the weekend.

It was not really cooperative - I saw it for a total of only a couple of minutes over the whole weekend, and it came in to bread only briefly.

Herring Gulls: some examples of variability

2011-02-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

This post illustrates some of the variability in 1w Herrings that it is possible to see in a single day in NE Scotland. We have a mix of argentatus and argenteus at this time of year, with the latter breeding locally. Shown above is a rather pale bird, with a very white ground colour to the tail

A beautiful fresh looking bird that has retained all but a few first generation scapulars.

An argentatus

It is not too unusual to see bird with such pale primaries.

A bird with a very sooty body

A rather typical argenteus bird.

A paler-end and rather contrasting underwing.

A more uniform, mid range underwing.

A rather typical Herring Gull underwing

A very dark and uniform underwing. I had (perhaps foolishly) hoped that there might be some consistent differences in the underwing between Herring and Vega Gulls of this age, but the variability of the former, as illustrated by these birds, rather limits the value of any 'average' differences.

The same dark bird as shown above, showings its rather well marked upper tail coverts and deep tail band.

Four days in Morocco (Jan 2011)

2011-02-01T09:12:00.001-08:00

This short trip was designed as an escape from a dull Aberdeen winter. We (Paul Baxter, Hywel Maggs, Phil Crockett and myself) wanted to see a small number of target birds and so took advantage of cheap Ryanair flights for a 4 day trip to key high Atlas and desert sites. These are a few pictures from the trip. Thick-billed Lark (above) was the main target and we managed to see this beauty at Tagdilt.

The high Atlas - Oukaimedene. This site is a good spot for some nice high elevation birds....

A key target - Crimson-winged Finch

Crimson-winged Finch. This proved easy at Oukaimedene

Crimson-winged Finch.

Crimson-winged Finch

Alpine Accentor. A small group at the radar station of Oukaimedene

Rock Sparrow.

Atlas Shore Lark. Very abundant and easy to see at Oukaimedene.

Dades Valley - magical.

Another shot of Dades - the lower part of the valley

Again, the lower part of the Dades valley - Bonellis Eagles above and North African Great Spotted Woodpeckers below

Southern Grey Shrike (algeriensis)

The same bird

And again.

We visited the Tagdilt track for some nice desert birding. This pic is of one of many Hoopoe Larks seen here.

Lesser Short-toed lark.

The Tagdilt

Paul photographing Temminks Horned larks at Tagdilt.

Boulmane de Dades - our base for 2 nights.

House Buntings were around town.

A couple of them outside of our hotel.

Lots of 'stocking fillers' - in this pic, the local form of Magpie

Bad (very heavily cropped) picture, but a nice bird - Levaillant's Green Woodpecker

Southern (Iberian) Grey Shrike and a sheep head

2011-01-24T01:09:00.001-08:00

These images were taken in April 2009 at a vulture feeding station in the Catalan Pyrenees. The bird is taking advantage of the morsels left on the carcasses...

An interesting Iceland Gull

2011-01-24T00:55:00.000-08:00

This bird was present at Peterhead on Saturday. It shows a contrast between extremely worn outer and fresh inner primaries.

It is clear from this and the images below that the bird has suspended its primary moult. Its secondaries are also unusual, with a mixture of fresh (presumably moulted in in the autumn) and extremely abraded (retained) and missing feathers.

Slaty-backed Gulls from Japan

2011-01-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

The Rainham bird is forcing us to think seriously about where the boundaries of acceptable out-of-range Slaty-backed Gulls (SBG) lie. It has caused us to reappriase what we know of the identification of this species. Whichever hypothesis you favour (the Rainham bird is a SBG, the Rainham bird is not a SBG), it is difficult to present the compelling evidence needed to completely reject the opposing one. The reason for this, I think, is that we don't really know enough about the variability of this species.

My knowledge of SBG is very limited (actually, just two 10-day gull watching trips to Japan) so I am not in a position to say anything new or insightful about the Rainham bird. I dont know enough to feel completely comfortable with any personal decision I reach about it - in truth, I'm pulled in one direction then the other as I read successive contributions to the debate by people a lot more knowledgeable than me.

With this as a context, the current set of images (all taken 25 Dec 2009-5 Jan 2010, Choshi, Japan) aims simply to illustrate the variability of presumed Slaty-backed Gulls in relation to a number of the features which are the focus of debate re the Rainham bird (structure, upperpart tone, eye pigmentation). Of course it is difficult to capture and represent grey tones digitally so how these birds appear in these images (especially those in bright sunlight) is not necessarily how they appeared in the field. Where relevent, some field observations are added to the captions. I've been rather biased in pulling out a number of paler-end birds, so please don't take this post as a representative sample.

1. Legs are particularly short. Upperparts look a fraction paler here than in life (this image was taken in bright, sunny conditions).

2. The palest bird that I identified as SBG. In the field I recorded this bird as being fractionally darker than graellsii but not as dark as intermedius. It appears a rather large and bulky/compact bird, at least as catured in this relaxed posture.

3. A much smaller and less bulky individual. Nice dull light conditions.

4. Generally typical (upperpart tone, overall structure, bare part colours) though its bill is rather slender. The same bird is shown below in image 5.

5.
6. This pale bird troubled me. It was paler than the one discussed above (pic 2), though this does not come across particularly well in this image. In the field it was only fractionally darker than the darkest Vega Gulls present alongside, and hence (approximately) at the extreme upper limit of L.a. argentatus. I left it unidentified at the time, but clearly such birds are key to resolving the Rainham debate. The white primary tips appear a fraction smaller than the birds above, but this may be due as much to wear as anything else.

7.
8. An otherwise adult-looking bird with clear iris speckling; the same bird is shown in images 9 and 10 below.
9.
10. This is the full image of the crop shown in image 8.

11. A bird in an alert, head-flattened posture. The bill is deep with a slight bulge at the gonys. .
13. A more elongated bird. Unlike most, P10 of this individual extends beyond P9 and this creates the longer winged impression. Otherwise, it appears typical of smaller (female?) birds.

14. This bird is not fully mature (note bill smudging and dark spots in the tail). Its eye is pale and completely unmarked. Legs almost ludicrously short.

15. A younger bird (3w) but still with an unmarked pale yellow eye.

16. Many/most SBGs are already pale eyed in their second winter. This is more mature looking (has more extensive grey) than most 2ws but the primaries appear to be second generation so I've provisionally aged it as 2w.

17. This and the images below the primary pattern of 3w (above) and adult (below) birds. In adults, P10, 9 and 5 patterns all vary.

18.

19.
20. I'm a little unnerved by the apparent greyness of the outer primaries in this image. It is the same (oil-stained) bird as shown perched in image no. 1, in which the primaries look black; so perhaps the bright sunlight in this flight shot is giving a misleading impression.

Primary pattern of adult 'eastern' michahellis

2011-01-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

This post shows a selection of birds to illustrate the nature and extent of variation in the primary pattern of Yellow-legged Gulls on the Black Sea coast of Romania. All pics were taken today (2 Jan 2011) at Mamaia.

Birds with black extending as far as P4 are not necessarily those with lots of black at the tip of P10

Fully white tip to P10 seems more frequent here than in the western Med.

Eastern michahellis

2011-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

One of the objectives of this trip was to get some data on eastern Yellow-legged Gulls. My previous trips here had all been in autumn when moult prevented me from getting a good look at the primary pattern. Here is a nice one from today: note the rather long tongue on P10, a fully white tip to P10 (rather than a mirror) and virtually no dark on P5 (just a grey smudge on the outer web). So overall, rather little black and lots of white.

Jackdaws in Romania: soemmeringii?

2011-01-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Ive been particularly keen to look at the Jackdaws here. On range they should be Eastern soemmeringii but actually none of the individuals on this post (all photographed in Corbu, near Constanta on the Black Sea coast) look like this subspecies is supposed to: soemmeringii are supposed to have blackish underparts which contrast with the grey nape, whereas these birds have grey underparts, with the wings contrastingly black.

Underparts clearly much paler than the wings.

Underparts rather dammpled from some angles

Gulls on the Black Sea coast

2010-12-31T08:48:00.001-08:00

Left the freezing fog of Bucharest and arrived at Mamaia to be greeted by large gull flocks on the beaches. Great.
This was the most interesting gull of the day, but unfortinately it was only seen briefly in flight.

It appears from the plain and dark inner primaries to be a 'Lesser Black-backed Gull' subspecies! But appearances can be deceptive - many cachinnans have rather dark primaries and when the feathers are not spread at all, as here, any pale on the inner webs is not visible.

Gulls and owls, Bucharest

2010-12-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

Long Eared Owl

Long Eared Owl. A second bird in a roost of around 10.

Many perplexing gulls were seen on the lakes today, birds which I hope will make more sense the more I see. This bird is a far cry from the minds-eye image British birders have of 1w cachinnans, but that's what I think it is.

The same bird; although dark, note the small head and slim bill. Many 1w cachinnans (and michahellis) develop extensively pale bills, a feature which is extremely rare in Herring Gulls of this age.

The same bird.

An unexpected find today was this Herring Gull! I imagine this is a rare bird here in Romania.

Bucharest, 29 December: gulls and woodland birds of the city's parks

2010-12-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

I spent a very nice day in the company of Cristian Mihai, birding in the city area.

This bird was a shock - a partial albino/leucistic Caspian Gull! This image is very poor - the bird was miles away and so this is a heavily cropped photo taken with two converters (a 2x and 1.4x) placed back to back to help overcome the distance; still, it gives the general impression of this interesting bird. Also in the pic are other cachinnans and michahellis.

1 cy (soon to be 2cy) cachinnans

Close up of the same bird

Nuthatch. It was great to photograph some common birds in the winter snow.

The same nuthatch

Blue tit looking nice in the snow

Another exceptionally dark 2W Herring Gull

2010-12-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

The search for smithonianus in NE Scotland continues. This bird, a second winter, is the closest I've had. Actually the overall impression is more like a first winter bird- it really is that dark.

Note the undertail covert barring - black bars wider than white base. Also the underwing coverts are a rather uniform chocolate brown, as is the body.

Heavily barred upper tail coverts visible here, mirroring the undertail coverts

Tail wholly dark except for a few small white spots on the outer 2 tail feathers. In my opinion this tail pattern is easily within the range of that seen in second winter smithsonianus (though of course this does not mean it is one).

Lovely dark greater coverts and solidly brown tertials. BUT I still cant get myself too exited - the head and upper breast are much more streaked and blotched, respectively, than can be tolerated. Also, I'd like plainer median coverts and scapulars. Despite being very dark, with a number of good looking features, it is not quite the full smithsonianus package.

Would be great to know where such birds are from (Iceland?)

Adult Caspian Gulls, Dumpiai - some real beauties

2010-12-14T23:45:00.000-08:00

There is something oddly satisfying about kneeling down on a rubbish dump and having a beautiful adult cachinnans walk towards and come within a couple of metres of you, happily feeding away. So, this post brings back fond memories of long sunny days spent photographing cachinnans on Dumpiai dump , Klaipeda, Lithuania (September 2010).

A large and very aggressive (presumably male) bird. It was calling very regularly and seemed to dominate all other gulls present.

This and the photos below all show the same individual

Adult Caspian Gulls, Lithuania (September 2010).

2010-12-14T04:21:00.000-08:00

This post shows a selection of Caspian Gulls from Preila Pier on the Neringa Spit, Lithuania. Photos were all taken in mid September. The ringed Ukrainian bird above is an annual visitor to the pier. The birds below illustrate the differences between the sexes, as well as some interesting less typical features.

Leg colour varies enormously.

This bird is interesting - it has bright bare parts (note especially the red of gonys extending onto the upper mandible) and a rather well streaked head. Some may argue that these features make this bird not safely identifiable as cachinnans.

'thayeri' P10 pattern, as visible on this bird, is not so unusual in cachinnans.

A proud (male) bird

Another bright bird

A near-adult

Oddly short legs

Iceland, Med and a dark tailed Herring Gull: 4 & 5 December

2010-12-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

The was by far the most interesting bird of the weekend - a 2w Herring Gull with a tail pattern extremely like an American Herring Gull L. smithsonianus. The rump and ventral barring however were not as one would ideally like on a smithsonianus (i.e. not dense enough for a bird on this side of the Atlantic); also, the feather patterns on the wing coverts and scapulars were not like the most distinctive (identifiable) type of smithsonianus and the body plumage, though nice and dark, was too blotchy. Nonetheless, an interesting bird.

Same bird as above.

Med Gull, Cairnbulg. Still a scare bird up here; this is one of the semi-resident birds which frequent the Frazerburgh area.

Med Gull, Cairnbulg

Both Iceland Gulls were present at Peterhead again over the weekend. This sequence of photos shows the paler of the two.

Caspian Gulls: some obvious and some not so obvious ones

2010-12-03T04:23:00.000-08:00

This post shows a selection of birds that were present at the landfill site at Klaipeda, Lithuania (Dumpiai dump) between 12 and 16 September this year. Photos are not in any particular order. Most photos show rather clear and readily identifiable Caspian Gulls but 3 or 4 are perplexing. I have to admit to being confused by these perplexing ones - although many show plumage features not normally associated with cachinnans, ALL of them called like and had the classic long-call posture of this species. We can discuss the identification of these tricky birds long and hard, but ultimately we cannot be sure what they are, as all are unringed and so are of unknown provenance. I hope you enjoy musing over them...

As always, opinions are welcome.

Same bird is shown below.

Same bird as above. Looks good with wings open.

Same bird as above: looks less convincing

The same bird as above.

Same bird is shown below.

Same bird as above.

More gulls from Peterhead this week

2010-12-02T22:50:00.001-08:00

The same two Iceland Gulls were again present at Peterhead on Wednesday; these two pictures show the darker of the two birds.

This rather pale Herring Gull was also present at Peterhead.

Iceland and other gulls, Peterhead (27-28 Nov)

2010-11-28T23:47:00.001-08:00

Good numbers of large gulls were present over the weekend at Peterhead. Here is a selection of the more interesting ones.

1 cy Iceland. The same bird is featured in the first four photos

Iceland Gull. This second, paler and more worn bird was also present on both Saturday and Sunday.

A very striking large gull. This pale bird may be a Herring x Glaucous hybrid. The same bird is featured in the photos below.

It is always difficult drawing a line between pale Herrings and suspected hybrids, but this bird does appear exceptional.

Another interesting looking 'northern' gull. Very limited post juvenile moult, dark and velvety-toned underparts, contrasting white head and rather brown primaries combine to give this bird a distinctive look.

Steppe Grey Shrike, Aberdeenshire

2010-10-17T22:06:00.001-07:00

These photos were taken yesterday afternoon (Sunday 17th) in a short period of sunshine. The consensus appears to be that the taxonomy of the 'eastern' grey shrike complex needs some revision, though what name will eventually be given to this taxon is a matter of opinion - given that it is not really a bird of Steppe habitat, the name Saxual Grey Shrike may be more appropriate (and has been suggested).

Steppes and wetlands around Lleida (Spain), August 14

2010-08-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

I am working again in Spain, based at the university of Lleida, but had some time over the weekend for birding. I visited some steppe habitat at Candasnos to the NW of Lleida and also a wetland (Estany d' Ivars) to the east. This post shows some birds and dragonflies from these two places.

On a number of occasions in the past I had looked for sandgrouse at this pool, but this weekend I was rewarded with several flocks of Black-bellied coming in to drink.

Difficult capturing these bee-eaters in flight, but these are my best efforts.

Female Spectacled Warbler

Purple Heron

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), male

Pair in tendem

Female S.fonscolombii

Southern Emperor (Anax parthenope)

Another male S.fonscolombii

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

1 cy Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis: a sample of July birds from NE Spain

2010-08-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

This post shows a sample of 1 cy michahellis, all photographed on the beach at Roses (a small resort near Girona, Catalonia, NE Spain) on the same day. They nicely illustrate variation in the plumage and structure of michahellis at this time (25 July, 2010). In another month when wear and moult have set in, these birds will be very easy to identify; but on this date many are, in my opinion, rather difficult to seperate from some Herring and some Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The post which follows shows the same sample of birds in flight.

In some ways this bird is a little reminiscent of cachinnans (it is rather gangly and has very simply patterned greater covs)

Note how weak-billed some young 1 cys can be.

Very simple fringes on all feathers, including gtr covs.

A bird with extensively pale feather patterns

1 cy Yellow-legged Gulls, Roses, Catalonia, Spain: birds in flight

2010-08-02T01:52:00.000-07:00

Here are flight photos of the same birds at Roses (all taken 25 July 2010). The aim is to illustrate variability in the feather patterns on the tail, inner primaries and underwing.

Livingston's footsteps - travels along the Zambezi river

2010-06-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

Work took me to Zambia for 10 days in early June. The trip was part of a joint project between Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities in the UK and various Zambian conservation agencies. The aim is to assess the ecological integrity of Zambian rivers and develop a rapid appraisal sampling framework that can be used in future monitoring. Thus, we spent our time sampling invertebrates, macrophytes and collecting water samples for chemical analysis. These are some of my photos from the trip; all were taken in the Zambezi catchment in and around Lower Zambezi National Park. Above is a sunrise over the Zambezi.
One of our sampling sites - a fantastic sand bed river on the edge of the National Park

Crocodiles limited sampling in some areas!

African Open-billed Stork

Hippos were numerous along the mainstem of the Zambezi.

Bateleur Eagle

Waterbuck

These wonderful animals need no introduction

Southern Boubou

White-fronted Bee-eater.

Another White-fronted Bee-eater; these nested commonly along the river banks.

Little work has been done on Odonates in Zambia; this is probably Trithemis annulata (Violet Dropwing)

Unidentified, but possibly Palpopleura lucia or a related species.

Black Kites and Pomarine Skuas: Spain, May 2010

2010-05-27T23:50:00.000-07:00

I was working again in Catalonia during May. I joined Albert Cama, Joan Ferrer and other local birders on a boat trip off Tarragona to look for seabirds, and also visited Lleida rubbish dump to watch Black Kites. I also took-in Ivars D'Urgell (15 km East of Lleida) where, among other things, several Black Terns were present. This post shows a selection of birds from the trip. Great thanks to Albert for organising the boat trip, and to Joan for all the hard work 'chumming' while free-loaders like me sat back and took photos. Thanks guys...

Black Tern, Ivars.

A selection of Black Kites

During summer there are always good numbers at Lleida dump, and this photo shows a kettle circling high in the air.

The highlight of the Tarragona pelagic was undoubtedly the Pom Skua flocks - absolutely fantastic....

Steppe Gulls in UAE

2010-05-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Steppe Gull 'barabensis' is the numerically dominant large gull wintering in UAE. This post shows some adult barabensis (and one or two heuglini) photographed in UAE in March of this year.

For comparison: two barabensis standing behind a heuglini. The later primary moult of the heuglini is evident (P10 is still regrowing and so the mirror is visible on the underside of the far wing but is level only with the P6 tip of the near wing).

Gulping down fish at Dubai fish market

A rather slender individual, hence cachinnans-like in jizz.

Showing wing pattern. P10 has a silvery tongue which varies in shape and length - this is the longest I photographed

The number and size of primary mirrors varies: this has only a small mirror on P10, while others also have a mirror on P9. The most frequent pattern is for black to extend inwards to P5 as a broad black band, very like michahellis. Many, like this bird, also have a black spot on the outer web of P4

A heuglini for comparison. In March many heuglini are shaggy headed, show neck spots and are still regrowing P10 so are rather different to barabensis.

Fishing with Slender-billed Gulls.

And just to end with, here is a rather more compact, short-billed individual.

King of Gulls: some Great Black-headed Gulls from UAE

2010-03-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

Despite seeing many Great Black-headed Gulls in many places, I had never quite managed to get any good photos. So, it was a nice surprise when I managed to get close enough to get these shots last week in UAE (all taken at Ras al Khaimah, 20 March).

Caspian-like gulls: some identification conundrums

2010-03-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

This post shows a selection of birds that show features of Caspian Gull. However, they are not textbook cachinnans. They may all be Caspian Gulls - and hence illustrate the variability of this species - or some may be hybrids with other species. Some look very like cachinnans (and almost certainly are) but are slightly odd, while others are extremely odd.

I am currently trying to make sense of birds such as these, and am working on a small project which aims to assess whether there are any criteria which can be used to separate pure but unusual cachinnans from hybrids. I have put the pictures on this blog so that collaborators on this project can view these birds and we can discuss them. But at the same time, they are available here, such that birders with an interest in this species can muse over the problems posed by birds such as these.

I have simply included factual data (location, date) for each plate and commented briefly on points of interest - features that are not normally associated with cachinnans. One or two of the birds have featured on earlier posts on this blog.

Bird 1. Romania, August. Very dark looking, due to wear on pale feather fringes. Jizz very typical cachinnans.

Bird 1. Romania, August.

Bird 1. Romania, August. Extensively dark tail and heavily marked rump and upper tail coverts .

Bird 2. Lithuania, September. Such well marked greater coverts are unusual.

Bird 2. Lithuania, September. Jizz and underwing typical cachinnans.

Bird 3. Latvia, April. Possible hybrid cachinnans x argentatus, ringed as chick in mixed species colony in Eastern Latvia, but exact parentage not determined by the ringer.

Bird 3. latvia, April. Terrible photo, but shows underwing pattern.

Bird 4. Romania, September. Exceptionally dark body and rather short, stocky legs

Bird 5. Lithuania September. Note greater coverts

Bird 6. Lithuania September. This does not seem to match anything perfectly

Bird 7. Lithuania September. Beautiful cachinnans jizz but this plumage type overlaps with Herring Gull

Bird 7. Lithuania September. Underwing good for cachinnans but appears to lack P10 mirror.

Bird 8. Lithuania September. Plumage dark but pattern resembles cachinnans. And of course jizz very good.

Bird 8. Lithuania September.

Bird 8. Lithuania, September. Rump and tail coverts very heavily marked.

Bird 9. Lithuania September. Very heavily streaked on head and neck.

Bird 9. Lithuania.

Bird 9. Lithuania September.

Bird 10. Romania, 12 September. This bird is very like the Lithuanian bird above (bird 9) but it is from the breeding range of cachinnans. The jizz is odd, but looks neither like michahellis or argentatus. Seems early for a 1 cy heuglini to have reached Romania, and would not expect so many second generation feathers this early.

Bird 10. Romania.

Bird 11. Latvia, April. Heavily streaked for cachinnans of this age (3 cy) but call and long call posture (see below) fit cachinnans.

Bird 11. Latvia, April.

Bird 12. Lithuania, September. A rather dark bird with a jizz that, at least to me, does not immediately say cachinnans.

Bird 13, Lithuania, September. This bird sounded like a cachinnans!

Bird 13. Lithuania September.

Bird 14. Lithuania , September. Another dark 1cy

Bird 14. Second generation scapulars very heavily marked.

Bird 14.

Bird 15. Seems to show some pro- cachinnans features but other things reminiscent of michahellis. Unfortunately I dont have any other pics of this bird.

Bird 16. Latvia, August.

Bird 16. In my opinion this is cachinnans but actually it is not too hard to find Herring Gulls that match this plumage (except for underwing)

Bird 16.

Bird 17. Latvia, August. Same comments apply as with bird 16.

Bird 17.

Bird 18. Lithuania, September. Very like the bird below.

Bird 19. Lithuania, September.

Bird 20. Romania, September. Several features more like michahellis, but underwings rather white.

Bird 20. Romania, September.

Bird 21. Lithuania, September. Ive shown this bird to people who think it is diffuclt to ID this as cachinnans. More pics of it are below. My view is that it is cachinnans.

Bird 21.

Bird 21. Inner primaries are at the dark end of the spectrum.

Bird 22. Romania, August. In Romania, it is not too hard to find 'eastern' michahellis whose plumage matches this. But behaviour and underwing match cachinnans.

Bird 22.
Bird 23. Lithuania, September. A pale-eyed, streaky headed near adult.

Bird 24. A similar bird from Romania, also in early-mid September.

Bird 24.

Bird 24.

Bird 25. Lithuania, September. Another streaky-headed, pale eyed bird. Together these things give it a facial expression rather unlike cachinnans.

Bird 26. Lithuania, September. Jizz more like Herring Gull, but plumage overlaps easily with cachinnans. It has a P10 mirror.

Bird 26.

Bird 27. Lithuania, September. Exceptionally bright bare parts

Bird 27. Note p10 pattern.

Bird 28. This next sequence of photos show variation in P10 pattern of Romanian birds.

Bird 29. Romania, September. Short tongue.

Bird 30. Romania, September.

Bird 31. Romania, September.

Birds 32 and 33. A pair (note bonding behaviour) but with rather different bare part colours; rear bird has robust bill.

Bird 34. Finland, August. Jizz, underwing and call all fit cachinnans, but heavily marked

Bird 34.

Bird 35. Latvia, February. Bright bare parts for a 3rd winter bird, and rather bulging gonys.

Bird 35. Lacks the tongues on P9 and 1o seen on some cachinnans of this age.

Bird 35.