neil78
Well-known member
Hi Stewart,
There are plenty of leucistic and hybrid gulls knocking around the Pitsea area, and many of the Iceland / Glaucs which get reported and end up on the various news services are invariably one of these, due to a combination of ignorance and wishful thinking by observers who don't know any better.
I know you do know better, and it's quite clear from your post that you've considered the hybrid pitfall, but there was a hybrid earlier this month on the nearby tip which at first glance could be mistaken for a Glauc, and indeed was when first seen on the tip.
There are 2 photo's here:
http://applerow.co.uk/Photos.asp
You'll need to scroll down to 4th April (after pausing to admire the BwStilt photo's of course
). Did it look like this?
The main reason this is a hybrid rather than a pure Glauc is the grey feathering coming through on the mantle. The ground colour of the bird is also too dark, having a greyish undertone; I imagine it would look a pale-dirty grey / brown colour at a distance. A Glauc should have a white ground colour with creamy-brown markings, and a 2nd calendar year bird this time of year would probably show some wear and from a distance appear more creamy coloured. The head/bill profile doesn't feel quite right to me in these photo's either, but could be within the range for a small female bird I guess.
Having said all that there were 2 Glaucous Gulls around in January to early March this year with another bird on Bowers last Saturday (which was reported as "cream coloured"), so if your bird didn't look like the one in the photo's then there's a good chance it was the real deal.
There are plenty of leucistic and hybrid gulls knocking around the Pitsea area, and many of the Iceland / Glaucs which get reported and end up on the various news services are invariably one of these, due to a combination of ignorance and wishful thinking by observers who don't know any better.
I know you do know better, and it's quite clear from your post that you've considered the hybrid pitfall, but there was a hybrid earlier this month on the nearby tip which at first glance could be mistaken for a Glauc, and indeed was when first seen on the tip.
There are 2 photo's here:
http://applerow.co.uk/Photos.asp
You'll need to scroll down to 4th April (after pausing to admire the BwStilt photo's of course
). Did it look like this?The main reason this is a hybrid rather than a pure Glauc is the grey feathering coming through on the mantle. The ground colour of the bird is also too dark, having a greyish undertone; I imagine it would look a pale-dirty grey / brown colour at a distance. A Glauc should have a white ground colour with creamy-brown markings, and a 2nd calendar year bird this time of year would probably show some wear and from a distance appear more creamy coloured. The head/bill profile doesn't feel quite right to me in these photo's either, but could be within the range for a small female bird I guess.
Having said all that there were 2 Glaucous Gulls around in January to early March this year with another bird on Bowers last Saturday (which was reported as "cream coloured"), so if your bird didn't look like the one in the photo's then there's a good chance it was the real deal.
