gull ID please.

[actionfinch]

hi troops need help on a gull ID there all doin my head in
sorry about the distace of the pic but i hope the outline helps...cheers
i thought about calling this picture 'Lancaster bomber escorted by spitfires'

[aeshna5]

Distant they are! The lower left gull shows the white leading edge of a Black-headed Gull. The bird to the right appears the same size, so suspect the same species.

The gull above looks as though it maybe larger, but I can't see any obvious features on it!

[Jason Green]

Afternoon AF,

Black-headed Gull for me (probably all the same species). Hope you don't mind, top central gull...

Take care,

Jason

[Wild-Woman]

I'm agreeing with aeshna5 for the same reasons.

[actionfinch]

no worries JG
i must admit i didnt see a black head on them.....

[htcdude]

Originally Posted by actionfinch

no worries JG
i must admit i didnt see a black head on them.....

Winter plumage - they lose the black on their heads and just leave a mark behind the eye.

[RoyW]

The gull to the left is without doubt an adult Black-headed Gull, the white leading edge to the wing is very distinctive.
The other two are Lesser (or Greater) Black-backed Gulls, an adult to the right, and probably another adult, but possibly a near-adult, at the top.
Both look to be clearly larger than the Black-headed Gull to me, with a subtly different, stockier shape. They also show a dark trailing edge to the underwing (most obvious on the lower one), which helps to rule out other species. I would tend towards Lesser B-b Gull because they don't look quite big and bulky enough for Great B-b, but it's not really possible to say with certainty.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Buzzard and 3 Black-headed Gulls.

Cheers,

Adam

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

and 3 Black-headed Gulls.

Then I guess that I'm somehow viewing a different photo.

Sorry but, although no one else (so far) seems to see this, there is only one Black-headed Gull in the posted photo.
If actionfinch has no objection I'll post crops of the two other gulls (with the images adjusted slightly) later on to show this.

[htcdude]

I agree all these are Black-headed Gull.

The size difference I think is hard to tell as the birds may be at different distances. The black trailings you refer to are probably caused by shadow.

Nige