lou bertalan wrote:great to see it back - looks to be the one from last year, gabi. an advanced 3rd cycle for me, with the small primary tips.
lou
Hi all,
I think the age of this gull should no longer be a point of discussion.
This bird first turned up in Feb 2008, as a first-cycle:
http://old.nabble.com/pale-American-Her ... 71736.html
(photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/10602673849 ... in10022008#)
It was refound at the same location in March 2010 (having gone missing or unnoticed for more than a year):
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=261
Logically, it should have been in its 3rd-cycle then.
This is also consistent with its adult-like inner primaries, largely grey secondaries, and pale eye at the time.
The bird is now in its 4th-cycle. Its primaries do not yet have the full adult aspect, there are a few traces of black in the tail, and the bill still has a subtle, dark subterminal mark
(which is very rare in full adult Thayer's).
I think this is one of the best documented Thayer's Gulls in the Western Palearctic!
