Sunday 18 December 2011

Mumbles - Med Gull aging

A visit to watch Gemma swim down in Swansea gave me a late afternoon chance to sneak over to the Mumbles and find me a Med Gull or two or three..... Always a good range of ages here and they didn't disappoint!

First Winter Med with juvenile plumage still evident and dark bill with a pale base. As in all these Gulls, black 'mask' behind the eye.



Second winter with black bands on the wing tips, bill now becoming pale with a black subterminal band.



The next Gull is a subadult third Winter - legs still dark and bill hasn't quite fully matured. Black marks on the wing tips.



This Gull has well developed plumage but the bill is a little pale and the legs dark. I would say this is a third Winter rather than full Adult.



No doubt about this classic adult Winter bird - fully mature plumage and deep red bill with subterminal black band.



As the sun dropped lower, in the sharply contrsting light, even Black-headed Gulls look good in close up portrait!





Quite a lot of action packed into a 40 minute late afternoon spell, who says Gulls aren't interesting?