At 16:50hrs a Kumlien's Gull flew into bathe in the pill straight out Blackpill Lido. The bill suggests this is probably a 3cy bird. By the time I walked out to the bird (the tide was well out) the light was very poor but the grabs from the phone'scope videos
HERE and
HERE show sufficient detail to confirm it.
5 comments:
Very nice find Barry. And good vides too - really useful.
It's interesting to note the difference in status of this type of bird in the USA compared with the UK where this would be called an Iceland Gull albeit on the slightly dark part of the spectrum, with a full spectrum of birds through to those with very dark markings which, presumably, have charcoal wing markings when adult. Then of course you have Thayers/Iceland hybrids/intergrades........the whole thing's a mess!!
I agree Paul - confusion rules with the glaucoides-kumlieni-thayeri trio. So long as we can document the records of these birds as best we can, the rarities committees and taxonomists can decide where the records are to be placed.
Barry. Unfortunately in recent years the voice of academic taxonomists has, in many areas, been drowned out by the amateurs in the popular birding press, but that's a debate for elsewhere. You often see juv Glaucous Gulls with dark primaries so maybe its a common trait in white winged gulls. I do enjoy your videos, what equipment do you use?
Just an iPhone hand held to the eyepiece of the scope. The results will never win any prizes but the zoom you can get is pretty impressive and of course there is no extra kit to carry so you can actually go birding rather than togging, which is my preference. Getting a record shot seems pretty much essential these days for dodgy gulls and this is the easiest method I've found to do that - you wouldn't believe how shocking the light was light night, yet that tiny phone lens found light from somewhere!
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