ML131609901

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Slaty-backed Gull with Great Black-backed Gull & Herring Gulls

Observation details

Continuing bird. Observed with Ross Green, John Parker, Tom Gass, & Jerry Jourdan. The bird had a “slaty gray” mantel and upper wing appearance (a bit lighter than an 18% Kodak gray card). The bird showed a large white tertial and scapular crescent at rest. The head, nape, & throat were heavily streaked giving the face a somewhat hooded appearance as well as a dark eye streak. When the wings were open the top and undersides showed a row of subterminal white spots on what appeared to be p5, p6, and p7 (String of pearls). The tips of both P10’s were completely white. The secondaries & tertials showed very broad white tips, this was visible when the wings were open. The wings had a broader (leading to trailing edge) appearance, as well as a more rounded less pointy appearance when the wings were open than was observed on the GBBG’s, LBBG’s and HERG’s present. The underwing coverts had a whitish appearance, with the primaries and secondaries showing a lighter gray appearance, than the mantel and upper wing color. There was limited dark/black on the underside of the wing, mostly near the ends of P6-P9, this was a bit darker than the color of the underwing primaries, contrasting with the subterminal white spots. The forehead sloped gradually to the base of a bright yellow bill with a red gonys spot on the lower mandible. There was no evidence of dark/black marks on any part of the bill. The legs showed a rosy pink color when compared to the yellow bill. The eye had a light/pale appearance. The bird was slightly smaller in size and lighter gray than the nearby GBBG, it was also larger than the nearby HERG’s when viewed at rest. The bird was noticeably larger in size and darker gray than the nearby LBBG. One observation that I made that I shared with the others present, and was confirmed by them was, when viewed head-on the bird was very wide-bodied! As I said to them it had an almost “Duck like” build. I didn’t notice this trait in any of the other gulls present.

Technical information

Model

NIKON 1 V1

Lens

1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6

ISO

400

Focal length

30 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/80 sec

Dimensions

2229 pixels x 1492 pixels

Original file size

1.93 MB