I would imagine that Red-legged Kitts are much smaller and much darker than
Silver Gulls and would probably have immediately died from heat exhaustion in
Cairns!! They have BRIGHT red legs and juvs have no brown in the wings.
I don't think that there is anything in this description that excludes 1st
winter Silver Gull. I have seen them with (admittedly not bright) yellow bills
and dark red legs and I think I have photos.
Cheers
Phil Hansbro
Hi,
I am now back in civilisation (via Jo Wieneke's computer in Townsville) so can
report more fully on my record of 3 July in Cairns.
I picked up a group of ultra-keen birders from Taiwan at the airport at 5.15am
that morning, and dragged them from the airport car-park trying to see Brown
Honeyeaters in the dark. We finally got them to breakfast at the Beach House
Restaurant (at the Pier) at 8.00 am - and they instantly set up a forest of
telescopes to look at ibises, spoonbills and pelicans through the picture
windows of the restaurant. One of them called out - "come and look at this" -
and I nearly choked on my Weeties! Gull in view sitting around 60m away, but
viewed with first-class optics in good light. An excellent view as below:-
Gull with general size, shape and appearance of a sub-adult Silver Gull. Wings
and body colour similar to adult SG, but with brown speckling on the wing
coverts.Outer primaries unmarked black. Main feature was bright yellow bill
(plain, no markings). Legs were dark red and eye dark. My partner Christine
noted a darker line through the eye which extended backwards, and (possibly) a
little forward of the eye. She also noted a different stance to the Siver
Gull, but could not define the difference. The bird was gone next time we
looked.
I phoned John Crowhurst, who has been keeping an eye out for the bird ever
since, without luck.
Any ideas? Red-legged Kittiwake??
Replies can be sent to this address until Sunday 21 July.
Richard Jordan
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