During observations to the northern part of Norway from February 28th – 3rd of march 2013 I shot images of a very pale gull, what I thought at that time was a regular adult Iceland gull. But I showed the image – more by accident – in the BirdForum and one of the experts asked for more pics of that bird to verify if the seemingly dark grey outer webs of P9-10 are real or just a light effect. I send the images and now they think it is a Kumlien’s Gull (Larus glaucoides kumlieni).
Kumlien’s Gull is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions far west of Varanger. The main breeding sites are in Canada. But Kumlien’s Gull is migratory, wintering from Labrador west across the Great Lakes and south to New England There are some observations outside that range. Thus the bird is quite a regular vagrant in small numbers to Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ireland and the Atlantic islands. So there was one observation in January 2012 near Trondheim, Norway or in February 2009 on Madeira. According to http://madeira.seawatching.net/articles/Kumliens_2009_Madeira.pdf there has been an unprecedented influx of Kumliens Gulls into Southern Europe in the early part of 2009. Numbers involved are difficult to gauge but as many as ten could have been recorded in Spain where previously only two birds had been recorded before. Others were recorded in Belgium and Portugal, with a single adult also seen on the Azores.
The reason for this influx is unclear but probably involved weather systems pushing birds further south than usual. This influx was not mirrored in the UK or Ireland.
By taxonomy Larus (glaucoides) kumlieni has been variably considered a full species, a subspecies of Thayer’s Gull, a subspecies of Iceland Gull, and a hybrid between the aforementioned species. It is currently considered a subspecies of Iceland Gull by the American Ornithologists’ Union – so in this blog, too.
This gull taxon is pale in all plumages, as the Iceland Gull of the nominate race (Larus glaucoides glaucoides), but with a remarkably amount of pigment in the primaries.
To cope with the growing demand for top shots of the rarer species of the Palearctic Bird-Lens is keen to enrich the range of pictures of birds you can find in the western palearctic. Trips to remote places like Varanger in March to capture images of rare birds of western palearctic were very successful. The 2 nice images you see in the blog are only a first impression, what you will find in the gallery in the “Pictures Shop” very soon. Just give me a message, if I could serve you with an image needed before the new pictures are online.
Other successful shootings you can see under: www.bird-lens.com.