Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
A memorable sighting that I was thinking about recently and thought I would put the photos up on here. Below is the write up I submitted to the Massachusetts avian birds records committee. At the time, we speculated that this was not an American Mew Gull and may be one of the others, possibly of the Kamchetka subspecies. Notably I can see that this record was accepted by the Massachusetts Avian Records committee as Larus canus kamtschatschensis (#2007-02), my submission to the committee for this sighting is below: Description of size, and color pattern, and beak, and feet coloration, in addition to any diagnostic characteristics, but include only what was actually seen in the field: Many quite diagnostic photos have been taken of this bird, but for records sake I have included a description gathered from my notes which were not extensive and mostly in an effort to record the birds shape and size. In the field the gull was differently shaped then nearby Ring-billed Gulls and despite the very large flock (hundreds if not thousands) of gulls in the area, this bird was always easily picked out when returning for another pass. The wings were broad and long, giving the bird a generally heavy flight style. The body was heavy and its neck was thick while the head was stocky, which added to the heavy set appearance of the bird. This hefty appearance was also aided by the fairly large bill, which I felt looked thicker in the field then a number of these photos seem to show. While observing the bird we were not noticing any obvious markings on the lower or upper mandible, but several photos can be enlarged to a point where it appears there may be a small dark mark on the lower mandible (but this is not something I am sure is actually there). The eye appeared dark and large, however the color was not scrutinized closely by myself. The streaks on the nape and neck were dense and most concentrated on the nape. This pattern created somewhat of a collar and also made this bird easy to pick out. The 9th and 10th primaries exhibited distinct white oval “windows” near the tip. The 10th primary white spot was slightly larger then the 9th. When seen briefly perched on the water the wings appeared very long. The mantle was darker then nearby Ring-billed Gulls, appearing a denser gray color. This last feature was seen very well due to the excellent lighting we had from the breakwall. Description of Behavior: The gull would fly close to the northwest side of the pier and fly down near the rocks and support beams where he would feed with Ring-billed Gulls and Black-headed Gulls (when they were present). Otherwise he would disappear into the large flock of gulls gathering above the dock. Similarly appearing species which are eliminated by descriptions above, and Explain: Ring-billed Gull is the most easily confused species in this case. The coloration and shape of bill described above are not consistent with Ring-billed Gull, which normally would show an obvious ring around the bill. The darker mantle and large white spots on p9 and p10 are also important field marks as well as the different shape and size.
Technical information
- Model
- DMC-FZ30
- ISO
- 100
- Focal length
- 46.5 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/4.5
- Shutter speed
- 1/800 sec
- Dimensions
- 3264 pixels x 2448 pixels
- Original file size
- 3.38 MB