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First-winter: Paglesham Lagoon, Essex - date unknown

Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis

First-years

First-winter: Paglesham Lagoon, Essex - November 2004

First-winter: Paglesham Lagoon, Essex - December 2004

First-winter: Paglesham Lagoon, Essex - January 2006

First-winter: undisclosed site, Essex - 12th December 2009

First-year: Undisclosed Site, Essex - February 2010

The tertials are dark brown and plain with only fine pale fringing. The wing coverts are dark centred with narrow pale fringes creating a rather solidly brown wing. The greater coverts having increasingly pale inner feathers with brown barring.

The ground colour is whitish with greyish mottling.

The tertials are mid grey with bold anchor markings with transverse bars, a number of feathers are paler with darker internal markings

The head is squarish with the large dark eye slightly 'masked' by fine streaking.

First-year: Undisclosed Site, Essex - 27th February 2010

Very similar in many respects to the previous bird, above.

The tertials are especially dark brown and plain with only fine pale fringing. The wing coverts are dark centred with narrow pale fringes creating a rather solidly brown wing.

The ground colour is whitish with greyish mottling.

The tertials are mid grey with bold anchor markings with transverse bars, a number of feathers are paler with darker internal markings

The head is squarish with the large dark eye slightly 'masked' by fine streaking.

The bill is heavy and blunt tipped with paler basal two thirds appearing.

First-year: Undisclosed Site, Essex - 27th February 2010

Compare with the typical michahellis above.

This bird is larger and far more rangy than the bird above, jizz wise it has a Caspian Gull quality however a number of characters along with plumage detail point towards Yellow-legged Gull.

The bill is large and hefty with prominent blunt and bulging tip.

The head shape matches Yellow-legged whilst there is fine streaking that also matches that species over Caspian Gull.

The neck is long, note the kink.

Wing coverts are gingery-brown with neat fringes but lacks the usually obvious double pale bars across the the wing. A number of lesser and median coverts have been replaced as have the inner most greater coverts; they appear as grey based with prominent blackish anchors or arrowheads.

The tertials are dark plain brown with neat pale fringing.

The scapulars are boldly patterned with prominent anchors and subterminal bars.

The second image is of the same bird facing the opposite direction.

Again note the hefty bill profile, the scattered replaced new wing coverts and the more visible dark plain tertials.