Yellow-legged Gull michahellis/lusitanius - tearing my hair out

[david156]

Originally Posted by RoyW

Yes of course, the first printing is just as usable as the corrected edition if you have an errata sheet and don't mind the minor hassle of occasionally having to check whether there are errors in the pages that you are using!
I guess that someone gave you their original copy after they received the corrected edition?

It is something that people need to be aware of though!

It came from a wildlife book retail company based here in Norfolk. All there original editions were replaced and they had to dump the ones with errors. Well they dumped most of them anyway

[wint]

Unless you are going to USA or Asia to look at gulls then the Helm Guide, although excellent, is probably too much of a book.

The large white-headed species we are likely to see (Herring, Lesser and Greater Black-backed, Yellow-legged) are well covered by the Gull Research Organisation web pages you linked to and they have a greater variety of pictures than the Helm Guide and a more detailed guide to moult.

I like Steve Arlow's site as well. It has the advantage that these are pictures of birds actually seen in the UK (mostly Essex).

[RoyW]

I partially agree with Wint, in that I think that the Helm guide can be "too much of a book" for many birdwatchers.
If you are particularly interested in getting to grips with the finer points of gull identification (including subspecies/races) then it is the best available though - and it is surprising how many of the species/races covered that I have seen not too many miles from north London (and others have occurred in the area).

I think that the new edition of the "Collins Bird Guide" covers the species that are likely to be seen in Europe very well (including vagrants) - but with at least two species covered on each two page spread it can't go into as much detail.


Web sites like those previously quoted are also very useful, with some excellent photographs, but because of the individual variability of most species there is nothing better than actual experience!