1st Winter Iceland (?) Gull

[Richard Stern]

The bill suggests Iceland, but the overall bulk,, shape, and apparent total lack of gray on the primaries are more suggestive of Glaucous - both occur here. Both should also have pink legs, although that could be a trick of the light .......

D7000, 300 f/4 AF-S. 1.7TC, hand-held. ISO 1000, 1/1250, f/6.7. Small crop, selective sharpening on the bird, nr and Gaussian blur on the bg, which was the muddy river bank.

Thanks for any comments, Richard

[Dave Leroy]

Interesting gliding like pose. I like the nice fanned tail and looks good and sharp.

Sorry can'[t help at all with ID. I might also touch up the catch light to make it more visible.

[Arthur Morris]

Young Glaucous Gulls should have bi-colored bills that are pink at the base with dark tips... Other than that I am not sure of anything...

[Frank Schauf]

Really nice flight shot and great details.

[Robert Holguin]

Real nice shot. Love the fanned tail, exposed very well, and great detail.
Well done.

[Paul Guris]

In addition to the bill color pointed out by Artie, it is evenly shaped without a stronger bulge at the end. This is better for Iceland. Glaucous also tends to show a proportionally smaller eye set farther forward, and less of a banded tail look. I like the pose a lot, but the grayish markings look a bit odd to me. I normally expect them to be more tan or brown, but then our Iceland/Kumlien's Gulls here in North America are all over the map in how they look.

[denise ippolito]

The ID info drew me into this thread. Very interesting. Nice capture Richard. There is a large dark outline around the top of the head and other areas around the bird.

[Richard Stern]

Hi,

I agree with Artie and Paul, and a couple of gull experts I showed this too, and it's clearly an Iceland gull, although perhaps rather a chunky one at the instant I pressed the shutter. The leg color could be due to shadowing, or it could have been wading in the mud before it flew. Denise - I could only see the outline you mention by looking very carefully and with hindsight, but I agree - it's almost certainly where I blurred the bg but didn't quite get right up to the edge of the bird - I should stop being lazy and use Artie's masking techniques better! Thanks for the comments,

Richard

[Paul Guris]

One thing to remember about gull size, general shape, and bill shape is that there can be significant differences between males and females. My guess is that this would be a male simply because it looks so big.