First-winter Iceland Gull, Fels Point Hotel car park, Tralee, 21st November 2015 (Ed Carty).
First-winter Iceland Gull, Fels Point Hotel car park, Tralee, 21st November 2015 (Ed Carty).
Second winter Ring-billed Gull, Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre, 21st November 2015 (M.O'Clery).
Probable 'Viking' Gull, Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre, 21st November 2015 (M.O'Clery).
Probable 'Viking' Gull, Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre, 21st November 2015 (M.O'Clery).
Although superficially like Iceland Gull, this first-winter white-winged gull has a strangely large head, a coarsely marked mantle, and a rather 'snouty' look, with a small 'piggy' eye set high and back in the head, features more consistent with a Glaucous Gull rather than the dainty, round-headed appearance of typical Iceland Gulls. This would seem most likely to be a Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid (a so-called 'Viking Gull'), though a smallish one, and not terribly obvious as such from any distance. Anyone prepared to offer an opinion on this one?
