next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects
--Alt-Boundary-10583.11895107
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Content-description: Mail message body
In my opinion (and I stand to be corrected) this is a Lesser Black-backed Gull, perhaps of
the European race intermedius (unless the photos are a bit underexposed, which may be the
case, because the Ring-bill and Herring Gulls look a bit on the dark side too).
It is not well known, although some of the gull guides (notably Olsen and Larsson) mention it
in passing, that winter third-year and adult Lesser Black-back can have greyish or even
flesh-colored legs rather than yellow out of the breeding season. I have seen this frequently
in winter. Often, in good light, a yellowish tinge is evident.
The size of this bird speaks against Slaty-back, as does the bill shape, slender body, rather
dove-like head shape, very long primary extension, relatively short legs, and lack of bright
pink legs. It would have been nice to see the spread wing, but sometimes the birds won't do
what we want, and in all other respects, Pat McKay's photos are excellent. It is certainly a
bird worth thinking about, and I can see why it set off alarm bells and justified a good series
of pictures.
My experience with Slaty-back is limited: a few in Alaska, one in Nova Scotia and one in
Newfoundland. As I remember them, they look sturdy, long-legged and "fierce" (because of
head shape and bill dimensions). Unfortunately there aren't any images of the Glace Bay
Slaty-back of a few years ago on the NS-RBA site, but there are some instructive images of
Lesser Black-backs there.
On 23 Feb 2013 at 15:00, Pat McKay wrote:
>
> Hello All,
> Here's some photos of a mystery gull I saw at Sullivan's Pond, Dartmouth this morning.
> When I first saw the bird it was sitting on the ice, and the dark mantle made me think
> "Lesser black-backed Gull." Then it stood up, and I could see that the legs were pink and
> not yellow. The nearest thing I can find in Sibley, is Slaty-backed Gull. The bird is larger
> than a Ring-billed Gull, and slightly smaller than a Herring Gull, as can be seen in the
> photos. What do the gull experts amongst you think?
> https://picasaweb.google.com/pat.mckay/GullSullivanSPondDartmouth?authuser=0&authkey=Gv
> 1sRgCJ3ZjNO4t7SplQE&feat=directlink
>
> Cheers,
> Pat McKay
Eric L. Mills
286 Kingsburg Road
RR#1 Rose Bay, NS B0J 2X0
Canada
e.mills@dal.ca
--Alt-Boundary-10583.11895107
Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Content-description: Mail message body
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"><head>
<title></title>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"/>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"/>
</head>
<body>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">In my opinion (and I stand to be corrected) this is a Lesser Black-backed Gull, perhaps of
the European race <i>intermedius</i> (unless the photos are a bit underexposed, which may be the
case, because the Ring-bill and Herring Gulls look a bit on the dark side too). </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">It is not well known, although some of the gull guides (notably Olsen and Larsson) mention it
in passing, that winter third-year and adult Lesser Black-back can have greyish or even
flesh-colored legs rather than yellow out of the breeding season. I have seen this frequently
in winter. Often, in good light, a yellowish tinge is evident. </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">The size of this bird speaks against Slaty-back, as does the bill shape, slender body, rather
dove-like head shape, very long primary extension, relatively short legs, and lack of bright
pink legs. It would have been nice to see the spread wing, but sometimes the birds won't do
what we want, and in all other respects, Pat McKay's photos are excellent. It is certainly a
bird worth thinking about, and I can see why it set off alarm bells and justified a good series
of pictures. </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">My experience with Slaty-back is limited: a few in Alaska, one in Nova Scotia and one in
Newfoundland. As I remember them, they look sturdy, long-legged and "fierce" (because of
head shape and bill dimensions). Unfortunately there aren't any images of the Glace Bay
Slaty-back of a few years ago on the NS-RBA site, but there are some instructive images of
Lesser Black-backs there. </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">On 23 Feb 2013 at 15:00, Pat McKay wrote:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> Hello All,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> Here's some photos of a mystery gull I saw at Sullivan's Pond, Dartmouth this morning. </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> When I first saw the bird it was sitting on the ice, and the dark mantle made me think </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> "Lesser black-backed Gull." Then it stood up, and I could see that the legs were pink and </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> not yellow. The nearest thing I can find in Sibley, is Slaty-backed Gull. The bird is larger </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> than a Ring-billed Gull, and slightly smaller than a Herring Gull, as can be seen in the </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> photos. What do the gull experts amongst you think?</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> https://picasaweb.google.com/pat.mckay/GullSullivanSPondDartmouth?authuser=0&authkey=Gv</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> 1sRgCJ3ZjNO4t7SplQE&feat=directlink</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> </span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> Cheers,</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" color="#7f0000" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">> Pat McKay</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt"><br />
</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">Eric L. Mills</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">286 Kingsburg Road</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">RR#1 Rose Bay, NS B0J 2X0</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">Canada</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style=" font-size:10pt">e.mills@dal.ca</span></font></div>
</body>
</html>
--Alt-Boundary-10583.11895107--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects