The mantle is clearly lighter than the LBB 's in the foreground and darker than the Herring Gull behind the LBB at the top of the picture.
Monday, 23 February 2009
For the doubters ?
Recieved a couple of comments regarding the photo taken on Saturday of the Adult YLG, doubting it is actully one ? So just to be clear i have uploaded an uncropped version of the pic. Hope that makes it clearer for you !
The mantle is clearly lighter than the LBB 's in the foreground and darker than the Herring Gull behind the LBB at the top of the picture.
The mantle is clearly lighter than the LBB 's in the foreground and darker than the Herring Gull behind the LBB at the top of the picture.
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12 comments:
looks OK for a Yellow-legged Gull to me.I think some people are surprised by how dark some Yellow-legs can look and by how small some birds are.the legs look yellow on my monitor...maybe Pope Petes monitor is on the blink, thats why he misidentifies most of the gulls he sees?
You wouldn't know one if it wasn't pointed out to you though, would you?
Considering i pointed this one out, yes.
Not quite sure who `anonymous` is directing the comments "you wouldn`t know one if it wasn`t pointed out..." to, but to reassure him/her, I have seen about 40 Yellow-legged gulls so far this winter, plus hundreds of Argentatus Herring Gulls...I seem to spend a lot of time pointing Michahellis out to lots of birders.
Not doubting it one bit just stating a fact its NOT got yellow legs.
As for Mr Anonymous (coward) if you read my blog I'm just being honest.
Anyway I've sent a copy to CSI Miami they'll sort it out surely.
Pope Pete said " if thats a YLG I`m the flippin Pope"...then he says " Not doubting it one bit"....
make your mind up Pope Pete...maybe you need some divine guidance...go and say a few Hail Mary`s
Bleedin hell, I leave the country for a couple of days and it all kicks off! I'm not a gullexpert by any means and am learning alot from our Seaforth friends but just a word of warning on YLG. Some Baltic / Scandinavian Herring show yellow legs and have a darker mantle than British Argenteus so superficially resemble YLG. But YLG show a red orbital ring. There was a a bird at Birchwood Pool a couple of weeks ago that loooked like a YLG (it had yellow legs) but as TV pointed out it had a yellow orbital ring! I picked a bird up on the tip that looked good but I didn't call it until I was sure of the orbital ring colour! Lesson learnt!
Gull's. Don't you love em.
Hi folks, I think a deep breath and a chill-pill may be needed by some birders who seem to be getting stressed by Gull identification.Gull ID is one of the most demanding of all bird ID disciplines( although raptors are probably tougher for most British birders).After watching Gulls for 30 years , I still learn something every time I look at them.There are many occasions when I cannot fully identify a Gull.
The large white headed Gull complex is just that,complex....and Yellow-legged gulls can be tricky.One of the main pitfalls can be very pale Graellsii Lesser Black-backs.An increasing number of these are seen locally each year, they are either just genuinely pale birds or perhaps hybrids( with Herring Gull or even with Yellow-legged Gull).Some adult Yellow-legged Gulls only show dull fleshy legs in winter and as Phil said (above), there are some Argentatus Herring Gulls from the Baltic that have Yellow legs, although I have only ever seen three of these in Britain.Gull ID can be a steep learning curve for some, but we should all work together, don`t worry about mis-IDing some birds ,as long as you are looking and taking in some features.That is how someone in Britain will find the first Slaty-backed Gull...in the North-west hopefully!!!
So superficially it looks good for YLG but may not be ? Bloody gulls.
Our Hero Alan Patterson, to the rescue, sorts the Chav from the YLG. City fans hey.
So are you still saying this was a YLG, or do you now think it is a graelsii LBB? These gulls are tricky, eh!
Yeah, it was a YLG.
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