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G'day all,
I went out to Williamstown this morning after reading the
report of Black-headed Gull on Birdline Victoria. No sign of Black-headed but
there were several very late (or very early) first year Silver Gulls on The
Strand with traces of juvenile plumage.
One bird in particular caught my eye as it had some dark
smudges on the sides of its head. There was extensive brown mottling in the
wings suggesting a relativelyyoung bird, though its dark legs were started to
show an infusion of pink suggesting it was moving into first year plumage.
Interestingly, Black-headed Gulls would probably have only just finished nesting
in their Northern Hemisphere breeding grounds so it would be a remarkable find
for a first year bird to make its way this far south so quickly.
This bird may have been fractionally smaller than the
surrounding older Silver Gulls but its head and bill shape was
identical to them. Seen in flight the underwing was a little greyish but I
wouldn't have called it dusky. Crucially though in flight the bird had the
typical series of small white windows along the dark tips to the wing, which a
Black-headed Gull would never have in any plumage.
I may of course have been looking at an entirely
different bird to that seen on Sunday, but I could certainly find
nothing else that approached the description given on
Birdline. Actually I was a bit embarrassed to realise how much I take
our local gulls for granted as in scrutinising these juvenile gulls I was struck
by the fact that they all had a dark band across the tail, something I can't
remember noticing before.
It may still well be worth a look but for now I won't be
heading back down until I hear of another positive sighting.
Sean Dooley
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