Unknown said: Both these would indicate this is a long tailed. Having said that I am waiting to see what Aiki will find out.
Both these would indicate this is a long tailed. Having said that I am waiting to see what Aiki will find out.
Oh, all I did was ask Roy to take a look, and he's very kindly done so :)
I'll add skuas to my list of unidentifiables (so far the list was full of young gulls ...).
Unknown said:I'll add skuas to my list of unidentifiables (so far the list was full of young gulls ...).
Neither skuas or young gulls should be considered unidentifiable - well, maybe a few individual young gulls. ;)
Both are usually far easier to identify in the field than from photos, because identification usually relies on assessment of a number of different characters, and these are rarely visible from the same angle. In this case a shot showing the sitting bird from the side, with the closed wing visible, would have helped, as would a view of the open wing.
Many thanks everybody for going to so much trouble
I thought the difference was mainly head shape, bill and tail. This aside, I will keep you in mind next time I have a young herring / black back for identification. 0 - 4 years I call them 'gulls', lol!