Strong southerly winds and rain all day.
Didn't really get out today but managed to see the Glaucous Gull polarmåke at Tjeldstø again. This bird is something of a head scratcher and took some time to identify. At times it has the beady eye and shallow forehead of Glaucous and at other times looks rather more round-headed. The bill pattern looks off for Glaucous as it seems to lack the sharp contrast between the dark front third of the bill against the rest. Also the inner part of the bill is not the normal "bubble-gum" pink that is the norm for this species. The bill is, however, quite long. The bird also appears a little on the small side, being about the same size as a Herring Gull gråmåke - so perhaps a smaller female. I don't normally have much of a problem separating these two species but today I did. I am fairly sure that this is the same bird that I head yesterday and that was first reported on 19th March.
A drive-by at Skogsøy produced a couple of Jackdaw kaie as the best birds.
In this posture the head looks more rounded....
A more typical view of this bird - showing a shallow sloping forehead, a beady eye and a bill length that looks good in relation to the primary projection.
Didn't really get out today but managed to see the Glaucous Gull polarmåke at Tjeldstø again. This bird is something of a head scratcher and took some time to identify. At times it has the beady eye and shallow forehead of Glaucous and at other times looks rather more round-headed. The bill pattern looks off for Glaucous as it seems to lack the sharp contrast between the dark front third of the bill against the rest. Also the inner part of the bill is not the normal "bubble-gum" pink that is the norm for this species. The bill is, however, quite long. The bird also appears a little on the small side, being about the same size as a Herring Gull gråmåke - so perhaps a smaller female. I don't normally have much of a problem separating these two species but today I did. I am fairly sure that this is the same bird that I head yesterday and that was first reported on 19th March.
A drive-by at Skogsøy produced a couple of Jackdaw kaie as the best birds.
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