Gulls are not noted for their beauty, but on my recent trip to Newport I discovered they come in various colors and sizes. The brown gulls that predominated when I was there have substantial markings and a rather beautiful tail. Here is a pic that shows that all is not plain white and grey in gullsville. Shot with my D50/Sigma 70-300 APO combo at 1/2000s. f/5.6. 270.0mm. ISO not recorded but probably ISO400 or 800 (note the late evening light).
Gulls are so tough to ID, all that yearling changing stuff. I always like them for some reason they remind me of sail boats. Nice lighting BTW.
Given how dark the inner primaries are, how white the head and rump are, in addition to a rather large thick bill this appears to be a 1st summer Great Black-backed Gull.
Thanks, guys. Glad you like it...probably the best lighting of any of my gull shots. I know nothing of birds, and was amazed at the variety I saw at the harbor there. I always thought of gulls pretty much as the classic white and grey variety. I'll let FLEW and WOUNDEDMALLARD fight out who is right.:wink:
