First of all apologies for the poor quality of photographs. Digi-scoping at long range is not easy. However these are half decent record shots and seem to show off most of the features of this interesting bird.

As detailed analysis of this individual has already been covered by Nic Hallam & Ian Lewington, in their article
which was featured in Birding World, Vol. 20, Number 12, I feel it would be inappropriate of me to add any further detail on this Gull, but I offer my own observation comments on what is a very interesting bird.

I have no previous experience of Thayer’s or Kumlien’s Gulls but this bird did strike me as being unusual.

As to it’s identity, then I, like most people, will be guided by the experts and if they are confused, then this
bird’s identity will inevitably remain a mystery.

Looking at an array of photos and articles on Thayer’s Gull, I can see that this bird shows many features both in it’s structure and in the plumage. I found the bird easy to pick out from the flock by the obvious pale tertials contrasting with the dark primaries.

All the other large juvenile gull species on view showed very dark centres to their tertials. To me the bird appeared the size of an average Herring Gull. Appeared small headed, almost pigeon like and very bulbous and heavy in the chest, breast and belly.

A relatively heavy but small looking bill, mostly black put paler towards the base. A small dark beady eye. Overall a soft velvet mushroom grey-brown colour to the head, neck breast and belly. In the bright sunshine the birds appearance kept changing with the light conditions. At times appearing very pale and then looking very dark.

The undertail was heavily barred and the underwing appeared a silky white. Here the wing looks very translucent and much paler than in the folded wing, appearing almost like an Iceland or Glaucous Gull.

It seems that the consensus of opinion in this bird not being a classic Thayer’s lies in fine attention to plumage detail.

The article in Birding World states - Anomolies such as milky tertials; marbled greater coverts and “open” scapular pattern, all seem to count against it being a pure Thayer’s, suggesting it is more likely to be a Hybrid. But a Hybrid of what?

Plumage detail on this scale would not be possible had the bird not been found on such easily viewed places such as Dix Pit and Poolsbrook.

If this bird was found on open water on a large reservoir, I feel it would be extremely difficult to pick it out let alone ID it, more likely to be overlooked.

Well done to the observers at Stanton Harcourt and to Kevin Gould & Mark Beavers who discovered this bird on Saturday 16th February 2008 at Poolsbrook.

It just goes to show the great distances that Gulls travel during the winter, which makes gull watching so rewarding.