August 10th, 2005. West Meadows, Northampton, MA.
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unidentified Large Gull Larus sp, first year.
| Comments:
One local birder has emailed me with the opinion that the
characteristics shown by the bird in this photo are actually better
suited to Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus, rather than Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus.
He suggested that bird appears too large in several respects (head,
bill, body and depth of belly) and that the wings are too broad at the
base for Lesser Black-backed Gull. He also suggested that the apparent
dark underwings, which were striking in the field, could be an effect
of the light.
Given the brief views of
only the underparts, as I had on August 10th, it would be difficult to
argue against this point of view. I’m not sure if the bird could be
conclusively identified from this single image, so I think this bird
would be better relegated to an unidentified large gull, Larus sp.
Last week I also received an opinion from overseas suggesting that the
viewer was quite sure that this image refered to a Great Black-backed
Gull. However, the same birder expressed extreme caution in attempting
to be sure of an identification based on one photograph.
| Taken using Canon Powershot A-95 through Leica 10x42 binoculars.
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