Update: April 10, 2000: I got my
slides back, and they reveal some interesting features on this
bird - go to the bottom of the page for the new images.
This gull was video-ed through a telescope at La Marque
Racetrack, near Galveston, Texas on the 3rd of April, 2000 by
John and Barbara Ribble. it may be just an odd LBBG, but it is
very white-headed for a presumed 2A ( or is it 3A?):
and the bill is very cleanly demarcated, with a tinge of red on
either side of the black on the lower mandible:
- despite the significant paling effect of video-ing though a
telescope, it was clearly darker on the mantle than all nearby
Laughing Gulls, even when at the same angle:
- the retained older wing coverts looked very even brown and unpatterned,
and the mantle/scaps were uniformly fresh dark gray:
- P8-P10 looked a bit paler and browner than P5-P7, looking more
worn and lacking the pale crescents on P5-P7:
Update: April 10, 2000: - the slide
images that follow seem to confirm that there are two generations
of secondaries (inner one-third are older than outer two-thirds)and
two generations of primaries ( P10-P8 older than P7-P1):-
- in the above zoom of the left wing, note the outer P10- P8 are
paler than P7- P5, and that the primary coverts above P10-P8 have
smaller white tips than those above P7-P1. In the following shot
of the right upperwing, the greater primary coverts have clean
white tips above P1 - P7, but have far less on those above P8
- P10:
Two views of the underwing ( in the lower shot a HEGU is crossing
directly below this bird):
The mantle shade was very dark; video tends to bleach-out dark
colors - especially when shot through a telescope, as were the
video grabs at the start of this page; the following pictures
are a more-accurate portrayal of how dark the bird looked in the
field:
I would appreciate receiving comments.
