January 2 Email:
Hi Ric,
I wonder if you can help with these two gull pictures. I think the one is a black back but his front is very dark grey which seems strange to say the least. I'm not sure if the smaller darker bird in the other picture is a gull or not. Do you have any idea what it may be? There were several hundred gulls on the ice, but I didn't realize just how many different species there were till I had a chance to work on the pictures tonight. They were all out in the ice away from the shore, so these were the best pictures I could get from that distance.
Thanks!
Rich Schadle
Rich, these are interesting images. To save space I'll put my two-cents' worth in the comments, and I invite others to comment as well. - Ric
2 comments:
To begin with, "I don't do gulls," so I will be as interested as Rich in what others have to say. My initial thought is that all gulls in both pictures are Herring Gulls of various ages. The darkness of the mystery bird in the first picture might be totally caused by shadow from a bird flying above it; this is at least partially true, and the front edge of its wing not in the shadow appears to be no darker than the gray of other adult HEGUs in that photo. But it's hard to buy that explanation as the entire reason why the mystery bird in the second photo is so dark. It looks like it's been dipped in oil, and if it weren't winter I'd suspect it was muddy. The shadow of its beak looks gullish, so maybe it too is just an ordinary bird in extraordinary light? I hope others add their thoughts.
All are ordinary Herring Gulls and the darkness is due to shadows from other birds. Extraordinary timing to make two birds appear strange.
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