[Hybrid] Larus hyperboreus

I got Nichola to take me out today so we could enjoy a walk in the still, bright sunshine - a world away from the shite weather overnight. We headed to Watermead Country Park South; I knew it would be busy and we knew there was a risk that the easy footpaths would actually be underwater - but it was fine and we enjoyed a good hour and a half walking around. I was hoping that there would be common waterfowl and gulls to point the lens at, and I was without any other optics on the basis that if it was not close enough to photograph it didn't matter what it was. But I was completely unprepared for any ornithological interest beyond the common stuff.

There is a large car park at this site, and the nearest area of water to it has over the last couple of decades at least become a feeding area. I've moaned about that before, but at least today I could see lots of floating lettuce leaves and grain spilled out all over the place - much better than bags full of loaves of white bread. As I watched the Mallards, Mute Swans, Coots and Black-headed Gulls constantly fighting over the spoils I suddenly noticed this floating about like a lumbering biscuit ....

My immediate thought was juv Glaucous Gull, based on its size (pretty big, Herring Gull sized and perhaps a tad larger), pink basal section of the bill, apparent lack of grey/black tones and brown-centered primaries with white tips. The legs were bubble-gum pink coloured, and in flight the primaries just appeared pale.

This is far from a prime site for large gulls. And I am far from a larophile. Large gulls are not my favourite group of avian beings, and I just don't get excited about the minutiae of identifying them. Still I couldn't ignore it, and I got a good number of shots as it loafed about in between shorts bursts of flight.

I put the news out locally, and an hour or so later whilst waiting in the car whilst Nichola nipped into a supermarket I managed to download a phone app and transfer a representative shot from the camera to my phone. I sent it through to Andy Mackay (ex-county recorder and current custodian of the VC55 bird news services). He immediately commented that it looked a little dark and was, perhaps, a hybrid .... sigh.

Once I got home, I sent a series of photos to Andy, Steve Lister (another ex-county recorder) and Carl Baggot (current county recorder). Carl and Steve certainly have a lot more recent experience with large gull ID. Pretty swift feedback was that this would in all likelihood have been recorded as juv Glaucous on distant/fly-by views, but with the benefit of my photos there were clear anomalies - but it was an interesting gull.

eg: black on the bill appears to extend too far up toward the nostrils, rather than a clear-cut black tip; primary projection appears too long; undertail barring too extensive; tertial pattern too 'Herring Gull' like; looks like it has moulted some mantle feathers, and despite it's size the head-shape and general jizz make it look a bit daintier than might be expected.

I think it's fair to say that when any large gull is 'interesting' it means the ID is far from certain. The consensus is that this is likely to be a Gaucous x Herring hybrid, and quite possibly a second-generation hybrid at that. It's likely that this bird will be back in the area so maybe others can have a look and see if anything more definitive comes out.

In the meantime, here's a much easier to identify duck that refused to come out in the open.