Unfortunately, apart from a Long-toed Stint there was not much happening..so I turned my attention to the gulls.
Among 3 immature Black-headed Gulls was a very odd gull. It didn't match the primary pattern of a normal Black-headed, seemed to have a paler back, a larger hood and more coral-red legs and bill. At the distance I was viewing, over 500m, I could not see black on the bill (clear on subsequent pics).
I struggled to put a name to it..was it just an aberrant Black-headed? a hybrid? or something really rare like a Relict Gull or (Indian) Brown -headed Gull? Never having seen Brown -headed I could't rule it out, but it just didn't seem quite right for Relict, despite the upright pigeon-like stance, the prinamry pattern didn't match this species, or Brown-headed or indeed any species of gull.
Unfortunately, once I got home and reviewed the poor photos I had taken and cross-referenced them and my notes with Malling. Olsen and Larsen I was still none the wiser.
I asked friends, but they seemed unsure...mainly as my shots were so poor!
Then finally, another Japanese birder who had heard about my 'funny' gull, managed to get some much better shots, which revealed that the gull was almost certainly an aberrant Black-headed gull..though the hood, leg color and size (nearly as big as a neighbouring Black-tailed) still leave me not 100 percent certain.
Any comments are most welcome.
2 comments:
I find your bird-love baffling, but I felt the need to comment anyhow. Mostly because I am too lazy to email. Which I realise makes no sense. The term "twitcher" has me both intrigued and somewhat afraid. Please tell me what it means so I can get to sleep tonight without images of some fellow with a camera hiding in the shrubbery having an epileptic fit in my head.
Hey Ellesen..sorry I am so bloody lazy, haven't read me own blog in the longest time,
What is a "twitcher"..it is someone who is so obsessed with rare birds that he twitches at the mention of a new species being possibly on view.
Don't really class me self as a twitcher..but the more serious 'birder'. Not quite an ornithologist, an not so obseesed he has to run off at the slightest mention of something rare 100s of kms away every time..thoughI cam close a few times.
We have our own terminology...see Bill Oddies little black bird book for a real insight into this kind of stuff.
We also have birddwathcers, dudes and we like to grip each other off once in a while ..but don't like stringers..
I sometimes wonder why the bloody hell I have bouts of that same form of avian epilepsy..just guess it can't be helped..
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