Yellow-legged Gull on Crymlyn Burrows beach

A 3rd Cal yr (2s -> 3w) Yellow-legged Gull was on Crymlyn Burrows beach, this afternoon. It's a species that I'm not able to find as often as I would like at this site, or anywhere for that matter. Herring Gull numbers are often very good in Baglan Bay but also often very spread out making checking them all, near impossible. When the tide comes in, birds that you hope would favour a high tide roosting location somewhere along the beach often sit far out at sea; it's very frustrating.

The photo above shows today's bird is in an active primary moult with P1 & P7 still growing and P8 missing. The legs seem to be in the process of changing colour with the feet still fleshy-coloured, which is typical of this age-group.

I find that the shade of grey that our Herring Gulls show can appear surprisingly dark at certain angles and light, so it was nice to see this bird between Herring Gull adults all facing the same direction. It appears to me that this bird is a female and so the structural differences are more subtle than a male might show. However, the elongated flat back line of a bird standing on long-looking legs with a heavy bill are all noticeable on this bird. Other good features include the remnants of the dark mask, large head and slender hind parts. Combine these with the darker shade of grey on the back and this bird looks good for Yellow-legged Gull to me. I'm acutely aware that the Gull ID scene is loaded with experts, far more advanced than I, as such any comments or differing opinion will be welcomed.

Med, Black-headed and Common Gull mixed flock.

Apart from being very pleased with the YLG, I was also very impressed by the numbers of Mediterranean Gulls present today. I counted 63 (inc 3 juv) on the beach with a further 22 flying in with mixed gull flocks that were feeding offshore.
85 Med Gulls doesn't come close to the numbers found around Blackpill from time to time but it is over four times more than my previous best from this site which was less than 20.