Marienlyst last weekend

Took a trip to Marienlyst and rest of Oslo with John Maritn Mjelde last weekend. Main point was something between ringing and reading colorrings. It ended up with no ringing, but some colorrings where read. A new Common Gull has arrived from Stavanger and was read at St. Hanshaugen, never seen outside of Breiavatnet in Stavanger. It was ringed in 2001, but got colorring firstly in February 2011. Most likely a stable Oslo area bird, since it only has been seen in Stavanger during the winter.

At Marienlyst we got some small gulls after 2 attempts. The Med Gull was still in the flock. The dark one that Simon had was seen briefly, and some underwing shoots where made. It disappeared and didn't return for bread.

A little to close actually

Read also http://oagull.blogspot.com/2012/03/heavily-marked-1cy-common-gull.html 

Also a Common Gull with Swedish ring metalring was present. I manage to read all the numbers by photos. Have made a map in Google Maps:

Vis Common Gull i et større kart

Today a Glaucous Gull was seen at Huk. Wonder if this is the colorringed one, or if it is someone new?

Heavily marked 1cy Common Gull (kamtschatschensis?)

Simon Rix (writing www.oslobirder.blogspot.com) took a trip to Marienlyst today, trying to locate the Med Gull (something he succeeded with). He looked through the Common Gulls present, and found this one:

Photo: Simon Rix

Photo: Simon Rix

Photo: Simon Rix

A very dark Common Gull. After some reading I found the text about first winter Larus canus kamtschatschensis in Olsen and Larssons "Gulls" very interesting. "Compared to canus and heinei darker and more grayish-brown with extensive streaks". Already here it looks good. An it continuous. "Flanks often extensively dark-spotted or barred, together with breast-sides and upper belly". Later it stands stuff like: "Paler forehead, chin and throat", "Undertail coverts white with extensive Vs", "Lesser and median coverts with triangular dark centres and pale edges", "Underwing have broader dark tips", "Broad, dark tail-bar", "Broader white tail tip than in canus/heinei", and "Bill pinkish, but pink frequently dulled by grey". (Not all of them direct quotes)

What to think about the bird? Hard to say. Canus has a huge variation, and to claim a kamtschatschensis in Norway, when it should has been on its way from Japan to the most east of Sibir and Russia, seems quite a challenge. Maybe they are distinguishable by DNA? The ringing group always want to get their hands on interesting birds!

Oslo

3. March I went through Oslo yet another time. Started out really boring, with almost nothing at Vaterland. I at least hoped that some Lesser Black-backed had come in, but I couldn't find any (most probably at least one ore two sat in Bjørvika, but I was more interested in Common Gulls today). The closest I came to a LBBG was this one:

Dark Herring

Sent it to Inge Flesjå just to listen to what he meant. He means that it is a Herring, something I totally agrees with. Even with a very dark upper wing, without a lot of finished moulting, I think we should have seen a much lighter breast without dark whatsoever. Of course the jizz revels a lot as well.

After a short time I arrived Majorstuen, in hope to see a lot of Common. There was about 200 Common and Herrings in the air when I stepped out of the Tube. It promised well. Still almost all the gulls disappeared, most likely onto the roofs of the buildings all over the area. Still I managed to read one metal Herring and one colorringed Common. 

4230528 ringed as pullus at Bleikøykalven in 2009
And who has put the ring upside-down?! It wasn't me this time ;)

J27L ringed as 1cy in Frognerparken,
 nice set of totally white axillaries

With not a lot of Common or others interested in  at Majorstuen, I walked down to Frognerparken, where there was a lot of gull, bout Herring, Common, and some new for the spring, Black-headed Gull.

JHV8 was in Stavanger 8 days ago,
and was ringed in 1997 as 1cy

JHV8 in flight

 There were a lot of gulls in Frognerparken this day, and even more people. I often have to shoot between people because I couldn't find any spots to stand... Still I managed to get some distance photos of JZE9 ringed in Stavanger one year ago, but seen in Frognerparken only five days before I saw it.

JZE9

 At last. I don't know why the Mallard was in flight, but it made the opportunity to take some comparison photos between a female Mallard and a female Teal. Also straight up was the only place there wasn't anyone in the way of the camera lens...

I never realised that Teals has two-colored underwing!
This makes it a lot easier to confirm ID,
 when unsure on single individuals

Caspian Gull?

Bjørn Mo from Stavanger just sent me some photos of a gull he wonders about. Personally I like the large amount of black in the wing, dark eye, and of course no gonies! The bird was seen 3. February in Risavika, Tananger, Stavanger.

Photo: Bjørn Mo

Photo: Bjørn Mo

What do you think about this one?

New Herring Gulls?

Today the Herrings was back on the ice at Langvannet. There have been a while since the last gulls sat on the ice, so I walked down to see what I could find. No gulls had colorings. The gulls looked also quite new. I couldn't recognize any gulls from earlier this winter. So where are these new ones from? Are they new, or are they the same as before that has moulted? Don't think Herring's are supposed to moult in February, so most likely new ones. So where are they from?