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--0015174c1cbc6da11b04ad4176ef Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Angela, Sorting out gulls can be frustrating but rewarding. The first thing to do is to be able to recognize the common gulls in your area, especially the adults. In most of NS, 90% of gulls will be Herring (gray and white) and Great Black-backed (black and white, and bigger). The rest will be Ring-bills and Bonapartes, + in winter Icelands - with a smattering of much rare ones such as Lesser Black-backs, Black-headed, Glaucous etc. My suggestion is to look at your field guide (Sibley and Nat.Geo. both do gulls really well) and study the gull pages - particularly the initial blurb that explains the differences between different ages, and why the differences between adult and imms of 1 species are greater than the differences between adults or imms of different species. I suspect that the "big grey ones" are 1st or 2nd year Herring gulls. Adult LBB gulls are smaller, slimmer looking, have dark gray rather than black, backs, tend to have a lot of dark smudging on the head, and have yellow, rather than pink, legs compared to GBB gulls - and they're MUCH rarer. Forget about the 1and 2 year old ones until you really know your stuff. Hope this helps, Richard On Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 6:18 PM, AngelaJoudrey <aljoudrey@eastlink.ca>wrote: > While out last night, there were a number of gulls in the fields. > > I think the most likely common gulls would be herring, greater backed and > lesser black backed gulls. Would that be right? > > What about the "big grey" ones that are mixed in there with the other > "black and white" ones? > > Is there a distinctive mark that separates the greater from the lesser > black backed gulls? > > ( I forgot to mention the numerous yellow butterflies, smallish, not > swallowtails. Might they be something with the name "sulphur" in it? They > were close to the path and stayed close to the grass . ) > > Thanks! > Angela in Windsor -- ################# Richard Stern, Port Williams, NS, Canada sternrichard@gmail.com ################### --0015174c1cbc6da11b04ad4176ef Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Angela,<br><br>Sorting out gulls can be frustrating but rewarding. The f= irst thing to do is to be able to recognize the common gulls in your area, = especially the adults. In most of NS, 90% of gulls will be Herring (gray an= d white) and Great Black-backed (black and white, and bigger). The rest wil= l be Ring-bills and Bonapartes, + in winter Icelands - with a smattering of= much rare ones such as Lesser Black-backs, Black-headed, Glaucous etc. My = suggestion is to look at your field guide (Sibley and Nat.Geo. both do gull= s really well) and study the gull pages - particularly the initial blurb th= at explains the differences between different ages, and why the differences= between adult and imms of 1 species are greater than the differences betwe= en adults or imms of different species. I suspect that the "big grey o= nes" are 1st or 2nd year Herring gulls.<br> <br>Adult LBB gulls are smaller, slimmer looking, have dark gray rather tha= n black, backs, tend to have a lot of dark smudging on the head, and have y= ellow, rather than pink, legs compared to GBB gulls - and they're MUCH = rarer. Forget about the 1and 2 year old ones until you really know your stu= ff.<br> <br>Hope this helps,<br><br>Richard<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Su= n, Sep 18, 2011 at 6:18 PM, AngelaJoudrey <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"= mailto:aljoudrey@eastlink.ca">aljoudrey@eastlink.ca</a>></span> wrote:<b= r> <blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p= x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">While out last night, there were a number o= f gulls in the fields. <br><br>I think the most likely common gulls would b= e herring, greater backed and lesser black=A0 backed gulls. Would that be r= ight?<br> <br>What about the "big grey" ones that are mixed in there with t= he other "black and white" ones?<br><br>Is there a distinctive ma= rk that separates the greater from the lesser black backed gulls?<br><br> ( I forgot to mention the numerous yellow butterflies, smallish, not swallo= wtails. Might they be something with the name "sulphur" in it? Th= ey were close to the path and stayed close to the grass . )<br><br>Thanks!<= br> Angela in Windsor </blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>#################<br>Ri= chard Stern, <br>Port Williams, NS, Canada<br><a href=3D"mailto:sternrichar= d@gmail.com" target=3D"_blank">sternrichard@gmail.com</a><br>##############= #####<br> --0015174c1cbc6da11b04ad4176ef--
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