Kumlien's, Iceland and Glaucous: once in a lifetime?

The weekend of 28 and 29 January was truly memorable - perhaps even a once in a lifetime experience as far as white-winged gulls are concerned. This post shows a selection of images taken over the weekend. The image above shows the 3w Kumlien's from Fraserburgh.

This Glaucous got something of a shock when a seal surfaced next to it.

Adult Kumlien's, Peterhead

Yet another Kumliens - all the kums present at the weekend have been around for at least a week now.

Five Glaucous gulls were at Peterhead - this one favoured a dead seal (note the blood on its bill)

Another one of the Glaucs

A Glaucous from Fraserburgh

Same bird as above...

... and the next in the sequence

A second 1w Glaucous from Fraserburgh

2w Glaucous, Peterhead. Note the damage to its bill; it's a rough life being a gull.

The same 2w bird

And the same bird again

1w Iceland, Peterhead.

The same Iceland

A 1w Iceland from Fraserburgh

2w Iceland

The same 2w Iceland as above

An Iceland from Peterhead

A second winter Iceland - lots of pigmentation in its primaries, but the pattern of this is all wrong for a typical Kumlien's

3w Iceland

Some example second winter Kumlien's Gulls

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

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

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

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.