ML625871285

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This 1st cycle gull piqued my interest due to the extensive light barring in the greater coverts, so I sat on it for some time hoping it would take flight for better looks. It did lift it's wings briefly, but then settled back down. As noted in "Gulls of the World" - Klaus Malling Olsen pg. 194 image no. 9 there is an AHGU with broader pale barring in greater coverts and broader pale tertial edges similar to EHGU and VEGU, but in the photo example in the book by Amar Ayyash it lacked dark spotting of EHGU and VEGU and had stronger barring in under tail coverts. I would say this individual also lacks dark or high contrast spotting or streaking of EHGU as described but also is not as "velvety" as AHGU at this age. The under tail coverts aren't super high contrasting as in the example in the book. I feel it is similar to this EHGU from Ireland: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/119506511 Noting there is no precedence for EHGU in central NA, but who's checking? Comparing it to EHGU to the individual in the link above, I would note the tertial edges were broader white but I believe that is a variable feature. In the field I did not consider ICGU Thayer's ssp. because the primaries were very dark with little to non existent white edging or "chevrons" at the tips. I also believe there are some fresh scapulars which would not be expected on Thayer's. I don't believe the under wing is silvery white underneath but maybe a bit on the silvery side vs. darker grey. I did notice in some of the poorly lit and poorly shown wings up photos it does look like there is dark on the primaries restricted to the tips similar to Thayer's and the primaries from the top do show darker outer webs with paler inner primaries similar to Thayer's. So, interesting AHGU with light barring on greater coverts, improbable EHGU or very dark ICGU Thayer's ssp. to me and thus Gull sp. for now.

Technical information

Model

NIKON Z 9

Lens

NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR

ISO

400

Focal length

290 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/2500 sec

Dimensions

2477 pixels x 1651 pixels

Original file size

1.98 MB