These Siberian Gulls (Larus heuglini)
were photographed at Ras el Hadd (the easternmost point of Oman)
and nearby Sur, in late February and early March, 2000 by Arend
Wassink; these birds look more like the "Big Pale Heuglini"
that is rare in Bahrain and northern Oman, again fitting Dave
Sargeant's earlier comment that birds in eastern Oman look like
the enigmatic form that was previously thought to be taimyrensis;
Dave tells me that the ratio in easternmost Oman is circa fifty
"Big Pale Heuglini" to one normal heuglini:
Note on the right-hand bird above (same individual below) there
is a tiny white speck just above/left of the apical spot on P7
of the near wing; I believe that this is part of a mirror on P9
(with part of the P10 mirror visible to the left of it):
Note how short-tailed the bird below is:
On the image below, note on the sitting bird how the partially-obscured
P10 mirror is very large and near wingtip; on the standing bird
- which may be a 4th-year - there is a large pale oval near the
base of the underside of the opposite primaries; is this the mirror
on the still-growing P10???:
Does this individual fit the mould of these "Big Pale Heuglinis"?
