Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis
Adults and Near-adults
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 1st August 2009
The mirrors have all been worn off leaving nothing but a ghosting on the underside of P 10. The primaries have faded and look dullish brown whilst the upper-parts are mixture of newer fresher clean grey and faded dingier grey. The legs are subdued yellow in colour.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 1st August 2009
Same bird as in the immediately immediately above.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 15th August 2009
Most of the inner primaries have been dropped revealing the grey bases to the outer primaries.
The bill is heavy, thickset with blunt tip and deep Gonydeal expansion.
The orbital ring is bright red and the legs bright yellow.
The general appearance is still of a long winged gull, this changes during moult when the outer most primaries are eventually dropped.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Note that the following two images are of same bird as pictured here. See how different light conditions and backgrounds can have an affect on the upper-part colouration and tone. Here the bird is in bright sunlight with a an almost orange background affording a mid-dark grey tone.
The bill is heavy and bright with a large red spot on the Gonys, creeping onto the upper mandible. The Gonydeal angle is acute and the bill tip blunt giving a bulbous tipped affect.
The legs are clearly mustard yellow. The eye is pale yellow with a bright red orbital ring. Although the primaries are in mid moult there is still a long winged impression, given that the outer most primaries have not yet been shed.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Note this is the same bird as above and below. Compared with the above and the below this image is in bright sunlight but at a slightly different angle to that above, the affect is a slightly less dark appearance.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Note same bird as the two previous images. Here the shot was taken in completely overcast conditions supplying a more neutral, flat light. The background is also lighter that those above. The result is completely different from that above. The upper-part tone now has taken on a 'bluish' quality and is different to the tones above. Identified clearly as the same bird due to the pattern on the outer primaries alone.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Note same bird as the in the previous three images. Here we can see the old pale and almost translucent secondaries, missing the outermost. The inner primaries through to P7 are fresh with P7 still growing. P9 and P10 are still old feathers, faded and worn though note the pattern on P9. Interestingly P8 is just visible beneath the primary coverts, the short white tipped feather. Also note the missing outer greater primary coverts.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
This bird is showing a fair amount of pencil line head streaking which emphasises the pale eye. The primaries are in mid transition in changing from old to new.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Another bird with fairly heavy head streaking though here, compared with the bird above, the outermost primaries have been dropped giving the bird a blunter ended appearance.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 29th August 2009
This is a big bird with large and deep bill, paler at the basal half. It has heavy head streaking and is yet to drop its outer most primaries.
Note the typically square head shape compared with Caspian and Herring Gull.
Near-adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 31st October 2009
Aged as near adult rather than an adult as some dark markings were seen on the bird on the field on the primary wing coverts whilst here the bill is slightly paler based with significant dark marks on the tip indicating immaturity.
There is extremely fine streaking around the head, even to the extent of giving a pale hooded effect.
The upper-parts are mid bluish grey whilst the primary extension is long with large white tips obvious.
The legs are a dull yellow.
Near-adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 31st October 2009
Same bird as above however here compare with the adult Herring Gull behind.
The upper-parts are clearly darker and have a bluish cast whilst the bill is larger with more prominently bulging Gonys. The primaries extend further beyond the tail tip whilst the legs are clearly yellow and not pink.
The head shape is less rounded whilst the bird has a generally sleaker appearance.
Near-adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 31st October 2009
This adult has a lot of streaking around the head and down the neck, perhaps a little more than typically seen.
The primary projection is long with five obvious white tips.
Winter Birds
Summer Birds
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 9th January 2010
The overcast and wintery conditions has a different affect on this birds upper-part tone compared with the previous bird. The bird above is blue-grey whilst the conditions for this bird make it appear simply dark grey.
There is however no doubting the identification, it certainly isn't a yellow-legged Herring Gull or a Lesser Black-backed Gull.
The bill and legs are both bright yellow; the eye is very pale with obvious bright red orbital ring; the head, neck and under-parts and clean snowy white.
The white tertial crescent is rather broad on this bird.
Tips to P10-P6 have large white tips, appearing as triangles and there is a large white mirror on the underside of P10.
A very smart looking bird.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 27th February 2010
An intriguing bird. It was easily picked out from the surrounding argenteus and argentatus Herring Gulls due to is darker upper-parts, longer primary project and yellow legs and was thought to probably be a small female michahellis.
It is still quite likely to be this however there are a number of aspects to the identification.
The bird was rung as a Yellow-legged Gull however it had heavy head streaking, far more than would be expected of a typical Yellow-legged, and the legs only had a faint flush of yellow and the feet were pinkish. This could have been down to the time of year, i.e. not in breeding condition and may also not have been a fully mature bird.
However here the bill has a rather tapered tip, the eye ring is dark and the upper-parts perhaps a shade or two dark for a michahellis.
Combined this then raises the prospect that this is a possible hybrid, perhaps a Herring x Yellow-legged Gull and perhaps from the continent, this bird had been seen in a colony in Holland.
Adult: Undisclosed, Essex - 27th February 2010
Same bird as above though here showing the spread wing.
The wing tip pattern looks good for a michahellis, note especially the broad black band on P6 and the extent of the black running along the length of the outer most primaries, reaching the primary coverts on P10 and P9 and reaching three quarters of the feather length on P8