358 Iceland Gulls!

Iceland Gulls and a Kumlien's Gull - Tórshavn

Today I had some work to do in Tórshavn. When I was finished I went out birding. In Tórshavn there were 81 Iceland Gulls including 4 Kumlien’s Gulls. The Bonaparte’s Gull was not seen.

3. winter Kumlien's Gull - Tórshavn

I Kollafirði there were about 65 Iceland Gulls including 5 Kumlien’s Gulls. One of them was very interesting and its black primary patch was obvious from a distance. See the pics below.

Nice well-marked adult Kumlien's Gull

Is there something wrong?

Yes, there is something wrong

Identifying Kumlien's Gulls might be hard - this one has only one dark spot on one wing which by the way is wrongly placed. I'm glad I got good views of this bird as it is just oil!

In Hvalvík there were 17 Iceland Gulls and 5 were in Skálabotn. I decided to go to look for the dark kumliens/thayer’s type in Runavík. And this time is was almost too easy. It was standing on the quay when I came, but soon it took off. I tried the bread-method and this time it came right away. It was very easy to spot in the middle of about 100 Herring Gulls and 60 Iceland Gulls (4 Kumlien’s). It gave tremendous views down to a few meters. But it was really dark and cloudy, so the image quality is the not the best.

The dark gull from Runavík

The dark gull from Runavík

The dark gull from Runavík

In Klaksvík there were another 70 Iceland Gulls and Rodmund has seen about 60 today in Sørvágur. Surely new birds have arrived! So todays total is:
Tórshavn 81 (4 kumlieni), Kollafirði 65 (5 kumlieni), Hvalvík 17, Skálabotn 5, Runavík 60, Klaksvík 70, Sørvágur 60 – all in all 358 birds were seen today by two observers. So this is the day with the most birds so far during this invasion.

Well-marked 3. winter Kumlien's Gull - Kollafjørður

2. winter brown bird - proably Kumlien's Gull this one due to contrast in the primaries - Kollafjørður.

Janus Hansen has made a collage which tells the story on the last days in the live of an Iceland Gull. He has been kind enough to allow me to post it.

Photos by Janus Hansen

SiO