ML646243230

Observation details

Adult (first photo, right bird) and 3rd-winter (second photo). Adult a beastly bird, larger than most of the Caspians nearby and appearing very similar to a winter graellsii. It had a clean white head, but was too far for any observation of the late moult typical of this taxa. The upperparts were much darker than those of the adult Casps and Armenians nearby. Third-winter bird had extremely dark upperparts, recalling intermedius or even fuscus, and this showed when the adult Heuglin’s drifted aside it. The other notable feature was the heavy streaking to the head and, in particular, the neck.