Hi Chris, Welcome to this public discussion that at this stage lacks the
vitriol eventually generated by the private discussion re that previous
claim of a Lesser Black-backed Gull in Broome on 20 July 2005. I had just
dug out my files on that bird with the intention of contacting Hendrik Reers
to resurrect that report and submit to BARC. Hendrik said that he would do
it without assistance from us but that hasn't happened. I guess that as so
often happens with overseas visitors, it would appear that he lost
motivation having returned to Germany where Lesser Black-backed Gulls are
ho-hum. So if this reaches you Hendrik, please make contact. You may be
interested in learning the details of this bird which has been seen by
several observers and is even better documented (over 1,000 photos) than
your sighting.
Hendrik sent me 10 photos of that bird which closely resembles this bird
except that the primaries are not so trashed. That dispute was centred on
ruling out Kelp Gull which all but one of us did! This time the dispute
revolves around finer details of subspecific identity with now no serious
claims that this is a Kelp Gull. So the submission to BARC at species level
is relatively straight forward.
One thing that that debate didn't address was the rarity of Kelp Gull in
Western Australia. Maybe it is my failing memory but I have been surprised
to learn that there may be fewer than a dozen records mostly in the south of
course.
More northerly records should perhaps be subject to review
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mount Eliza VIC 3930
Tel (03) 9787 7136
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