one of the gulls adjacent ot the GBBG in herastrau park bucharest 17.12.2009 looked very plain brown and sort of compact in these pics. i know that some YLG can be so dark and unfortunately the quality of pics gives little insight in moult detail but i think there are some moulted coverts. otherwise - wouldn't it look like an argentatus from a NW european view? just wanted to see if it can be solved conclusively or not (since actually there isn't any record pic of argentatus from this country!). it's not hard to find in the pics:
- 12 2009.12.17 herastrau james avery 069.JPG (59.42KiB)Viewed 2848 times
- 12 2009.12.17 herastrau james avery 084.JPG (66.44KiB)Viewed 2848 times
- 12 2009.12.17 herastrau james avery 069.JPG (59.42KiB)Viewed 2848 times
and this (should be the same bird): http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php ... 1261213469 (2 days later, 19.12.)
a fellow birder considered LBBG but nominate fuscus usually looks more contrasting and not so compact. the uniform brown underparts are nagging me.
lou
edit: i'm not sure this last one (jpg.060) shows the same bird, but the white hood is a photogr. artefact, the pale ring surface extends and closes itself outside the gull's head and neck.