Lesser Black-back, I'd say - wings look more slaty than jet black, they're in quite a big gang, and a Greater would properly dwarf those Black-headeds.
Gull splitting has got pretty serious these days. I think that these are Herring Gulls, but at any rate definitely not Great Black-backs. That is a huge bird, bigger than all UK birds of prey other than the two eagles, and with a very dark mantle, as Maguari says.
I've had a look in a couple of my field guides- but now not sure whether these are Herring or Lesser B.B. -mantle/back colour of these birds seems intermediate between what is shown in the books. Typical!
I've had a look in a couple of my field guides- but now not sure whether these are Herring or Lesser B.B. -mantle/back colour of these birds seems intermediate between what is shown in the books. Typical!
I had the same trouble Pertinax, however I'm going for lesser black-backed gull, the grey colouration seems too dark for herring gull. The driver who took us around Knowsley thought they were lesser black-backed gull as well.
I find the best distinguishing feature is often leg colour (LBB=yellowish) but it doesn't help here. I still agree with Maguari that they are LBB, the appearance of the grey does vary with the light but these are too dark for herring gulls. This is a very interesting example of a ring species (or superspecies) which is a cline with the mantle colour getting essentially paler going east around the globe from Scandinavia: the herring gull is the other end of the cline that now overlaps with our lesser black backs and therefore appears to be a different species.
This is a very interesting example of a ring species (or superspecies) which is a cline with the mantle colour getting essentially paler going east around the globe from Scandinavia: the herring gull is the other end of the cline that now overlaps with our lesser black backs and therefore appears to be a different species.
Fascinating! Where would we be without Zoochat! I think the general concensus is that they are LBB's, the colour is too dark for Herring Gull, as several folk have now pointed out.
I find the best distinguishing feature is often leg colour (LBB=yellowish) but it doesn't help here. I still agree with Maguari that they are LBB, the appearance of the grey does vary with the light but these are too dark for herring gulls. This is a very interesting example of a ring species (or superspecies) which is a cline with the mantle colour getting essentially paler going east around the globe from Scandinavia: the herring gull is the other end of the cline that now overlaps with our lesser black backs and therefore appears to be a different species.
