1st April 2014 - Topsham
One of the frustrations of checking the gulls in the afternoon at Topsham Rec is sunshine. There's no way to look through them without facing west, so on a sunny day it's difficult at best and in fact in mid-winter it can be impossible. This afternoon the Sun was out and, although there was a good number of gulls bathing and loafing, the light was harsh and details of mantle shades and scapular patterns were lost in the glare. After a token scan for anything obvious I was about to head back along the path when I noticed this: something obvious.
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
A straightforward Iceland Gull, nice whitish primaries, the faint remains of barring on scapulars, wing coverts and, most obviously, on the upper and under tail coverts. The head and bill are dainty and the wing tips extend well beyond the tail. Here are a few more views as it bathed, never coming close and always with the Sun behind it.
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
Eventually it flew to shore and settled down for a nap in the Sun.
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
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| Iceland Gull 2CY - 1/4/2014 Topsham |
So no problem as to species, but what age is it? The eye colour can't be seen with any confidence but appears dark, the bill also looks dark and, although it does actually have a paler base, it's not clearly bi-coloured. The tail shows some markings, mainly faint bars. Taken altogether this all points it being a 2nd calendar year or, since it's still carrying it's first set of primaries, a 1st cycle bird.
Nice one Tim - glad you've finally got the white-winger you were after. They tend to be a bit more maritime so always a great bird at the north end of the river. Envious of your yellow-legged gulls - have been trying to find one down here but no luck as yet.
ReplyDeleteCheers Matt, delighted to find it, just wish I could clear up a nagging doubt. Showed the photos to Martin Elliott who, while not wanting to commit himself, thought there was enough dark on the outer primaries to favour a pale Kumlien's over Iceland. I'll write more on this later. Spent nearly 4 hours at the Rec today but it didn't return, although did have 4 adult yellow-leg types all of which showed signs of being hybrids - I'll post photos tomorrow and hope you'll let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteWow - just enlarged photos and have to agree it does look good for kumlien's - particularly clear in photo 8 and open wing photo 6. A feature I noticed on photos of Exmth fw was dark underside to closed primary tips on far side. Photo 9 shows this nicely. I'm sure tail band would look pretty strong in good flat light too - great stuff!
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