Since there have been reports of a California Gull and possibly a
Yellow-legged Gull, if not something even rarer, in Northern VA, I have been
looking at gulls more carefully and have two questions after observing a
probable Herring Gull with both a red gony mark and black ring on its bill, a
yellow iris, and an almost pure white head and neck. Unfortunately the gull
was resting on a piling at the Belle Haven marina and did not show its legs
color. The questions:
Is it unusual for the black tip on the bill not to have disappeared by the
time a Herring Gull has attained adult breeding plumage?
Do adult California Gulls always have dark irises?
I would welcome other words of enlightenment as well. Thanks.
Ralph Wall
Great Falls, VA
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