At Martin Mere today, several adult Mediterranean gulls in amongst the
black-headed gull colony. When I started birding Med gulls were very much a
scarcity but these days it seems that no black-headed gull colony worth it's
salt is without a pair or two of these gorgeous white winged birds.
The two species are known to hybridise but I've never seen the resultant
offspring. However, there is an apparent hybrid pairing on the Mere at the
moment. The Mediterranean gull is sitting in the photo above and is a 3rd
calendar year / 2nd summer bird (note the black chevrons in the wingtips). In the photo
below the adult black-headed gull is sitting. I'm not even sure that the pair
have eggs, but presumably they do and it will be interesting to see what the
final outcome is.
Mediterranean gulls over the kids playground at Martin Mere on Monday.
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