Once again I went round by Seacliffe Road and
thought I would photo some gulls. There was plenty of water around for them to
paddle and drink from. I stayed in my
car and they got used to me being there.
 |
| Herring Gull - Adult summer |
In Northern Ireland we have small and larger Gulls and most
people seeing the must calls them all ‘Seagulls’ and never really look at the
differences between them. Our small
Gulls take 2 years to mature and our larger Gulls take 4-5 years and during this
time, their plumage continually changes.
The larger Gulls are Herring, Less Black backed and Great
Black backed Gulls. Today, I only saw adult Herring
Gull however we can also see a first, second and adult summer Gulls in these photos and videos.
Below are second summer Herring Gulls.
This video shows first (darker gull) and second summer Herring Gulls
This last video is of Black headed Gulls both adult and first summer.
Hopefully over the 'summer', I will see and be able to photograph the Great and Lesser Black backed Gulls for you to see.
I love gulls; so full of character. But I do struggle to ID the juvenile ones.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the videos too.
Hi Keith I know what you mean. Did these photos help any? When the young are born I will try and take photos, that way we should get it into our heads!
ReplyDeleteA great post on juvenile gull ID here Margaret...something I've never been able to get my head around I'm afraid!...[;o)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. Yes I agree I also find it diffficult but am determined this year to crack it. Like I said to Keith I am going to take photos of the juveniles this year if I can and I think if I study them, I will eventually get them all. Perhaps that will work for you also.
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your kind email and for following my blog! i just added you to my reading list, too. :)
ReplyDeletethe gulls are such handsome birds. i'd go crazy trying to keep the youngsters straight, though.
Hi Tex Thanks for following my blog and comments. This year I am going to pay more attention to the gulls especially as I live at the seaside.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, Thank you so much for visiting my blog, emailing and following me and I hope you received my email :-) I have enjoyed looking through your blog today and over the weekend and actually think I have popped in a few times before probably from UKNHB. Anyway, as I said, I have enjoyed reading it and looking at your lovely photos, love the Herring Gull among the daisies and also the Greenfinch among daisies on the previous post. Like Keith and Trevor I find juvenile (well all gulls really) ID challenging. Living almost three hours from the nearest seaside I suppose it's not surprising although I realise of course they are not exclusively confined to the coast. Black-headed Gulls are the ones I see most here. I look forward to popping in as often as I can and if it ever stops raining here I hope to get out with the camera and post again myself!
ReplyDelete