GRC Blog


Welcome to the GRC Recorders pages. This blog provides details on all the relevant news of Glamorgan’s scarcer birds, plus all BBRC & WRP decisions that affect us locally. It will also be used to document the status and occurrence of these scarcer species and we welcome contributions from anyone with photographs, artwork or documentation of rarities past, present and future. The GRC also welcomes all seawatching news from around Glamorgan and news of passage migrants in spring & autumn, uncommon birds in our area and unusual behaviour.


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The Glamorgan Rarities Committee, in conjunction with the Glamorgan Bird Club & Gower Wildlife , have agreed to co-operate with the Welsh Ornithological Society in the sharing of bird records & photographs in the interest of keeping accurate records and to promote birdwatching in North, Mid & South Wales.

Thursday, 15 January 2015

Hybrid Gull at Cosmeston

As well as the Glauc, there was a hybrid HG type which Jake and Mike thought it was possibly a so-called Viking Gull - i.e. HG x Iceland. I didn't get a photo this morning [no camera] but it was still present late afternoon and I think this is the bird in the photos below. This has been around for some time and I had always taken it as a part leucistic HG. Freely admit I've never heard of a Viking Gull.



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5 comments:

DRWG said...

Viking Gull is actually a Glaucous x herring hybrid, however this bird was much smaller in stature than the 2CY Glaucous present there today. Although it appeared just bigger than Herring & LBB gulls present. The primaries shown in John's photos are in shade, in sunlight they were a lightish brown and in flight looked semi translucent. Both Mike & I saw something very similar in Scotland, which was being called 'Viking Gull' and that wasn't really any bigger than the herring gulls present. I'm sure there are gull-freaks out who can put us right.

15 January 2015 at 17:11
Barry Stewart said...

I'd be inclined to say leucistic Herring as everything about it appears leucistic. I would expect Viking, Nelson's or any other hybrid to show normal blackish pigmentation to the bill. Yours 'moss-freak' ;-)

15 January 2015 at 18:09
DRWG said...

Thanks Mossy, looking again I think that is the case.

15 January 2015 at 22:52
Phil B said...

Agree, very probably a aberrant Herring Gull in my view.

16 January 2015 at 04:45
Meehan said...

This bird has been down there for a while. I'd put it down as a pale herring.

17 January 2015 at 09:53

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