Excellent introduction to the common gulls in your part of the world. You're right about immature gulls, they really are tricky. I can cope with most of the UK's regular gull species: Herring Gull; Lesser and Greater Black Backed, the misleadingly named Black Headed (which has a Brown Head in Summer and a mostly white head in winter) and Common Gull (which isn't common). But the immatures, particularly of the Herring and closely related Lesser Black Backed are very difficult, though there are people out there who are experts at ageing immature Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. Every year, a pair of Lesser Black Backed Gulls nests on a roof opposite our living room and we enjoy watching them bring up their chicks.
A few years ago a friend, an excellent birder, went on a week long Gull workshop on the coast of Newfoundland. He learned a lot, but especially how to tell a Gull from a rock in thick mist and fog.
Excellent introduction to the common gulls in your part of the world. You're right about immature gulls, they really are tricky. I can cope with most of the UK's regular gull species: Herring Gull; Lesser and Greater Black Backed, the misleadingly named Black Headed (which has a Brown Head in Summer and a mostly white head in winter) and Common Gull (which isn't common). But the immatures, particularly of the Herring and closely related Lesser Black Backed are very difficult, though there are people out there who are experts at ageing immature Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. Every year, a pair of Lesser Black Backed Gulls nests on a roof opposite our living room and we enjoy watching them bring up their chicks.
A few years ago a friend, an excellent birder, went on a week long Gull workshop on the coast of Newfoundland. He learned a lot, but especially how to tell a Gull from a rock in thick mist and fog.
Thank you