Calderdale Birds: Andys Herring gull

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Thats as good as I can get it, Id say its an argentatus.
BS

martynbirder said...: I'd say that this bird cannot be assigned to race from this photo

the only thing that is quite clear is the wingtip which fits both argenteus and southern argentatus, northern argentatus show very little black on the outer primaries (as well as a slightly darker mantle and sometimes yellow legs!) although the amount of black is variable in all races

however this bird does still have extensive head streaking while many argenteus have very little head streaking at this time of year

the joys of Gull watching, how I miss the old days when there were plenty of large Gulls to watch and what a headache they often caused!; 10:43 pm
AndyC said...: Thanks Bri and Martyn.I reckon its an Argentatus as I saw it for a while on the deck .It was bigger and ugly as hell and as Martyn says extensive head streaking.The wing formular is bang on for argentatus on page 258 in Gulls (Olsen and Larsson).I could be wrong as its seems ages since we have had any large gulls to look at.And amazing how rusty you become.The joy of Gulls indeed
Its worth a look if any one is passing Northowram Cricket pith there are lots of gulls about .and a few large ones are just starting to settle..; 4:12 pm

Calderdale Birds