Update January 16, 2008: added a Thayer's Gull from the same day/site at bottom...
Update February 23, 2007: added a Glaucous Gull from the same day/site at bottom...
Update February 21, 2007: today I relocated this Iceland Gull, and I've added more images at the bottom of the page:
This first-basic Iceland Gull
(Larus glaucoides kumlieni) was photographed
in the Coastal Plain near Houston and Galveston, Texas on December 20, 2006:
Even deep among other gulls (here it is left of center) the diminutive size, structure and color leapt out:
It was very active, walking out of the center of the flock to the periphery, and aggressing to smaller gulls:
When it did stop moving for a moment, it struck a classic pose:
The tail is the only non-classic feature (almost no barring in the base), but still well within the normal range:
Update February 21, 2007:
- here's a first-cycle Glaucous Gull at the same spot a couple of hours earlier:
- and here's an adult Thayer's Gull found fortuitously in the foreground of an image when photographing the Iceland Gull:
