My second (or third?) home: Föhr

[Flutterby]

Love all the birdies.

[Dewi]

Loveley bird pics Mel.

I love the rattling call one.

More please.

[Mel]

Gosh, how did more than a month pass without me having posted anything new...

Thanks for reading here, guys and gals and all your kind comments!

[Mel]

I think, I stopped with the omnipresent storks. Another ubiquitous bird is the seagull.

And always shouting their heads off.



The gulls are a chapter of their own. Almost like the LBJs. Some take 2 years to mature into adults, others 3 and the next group 4. During some periods it is close to impossible to distinguish between certain species. A Lesser Black-Backed Gull can hardly be told from a Herring Gull and a Yellow-Legged Gull in their respective first years. They are all kinda brown. And even as adults it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference.

We had just arrived on the island and my finger was trigger happy. Alas, the birds were a bit far off and I wasn't back into photo modus, so the first shots were not great, to put it polite. I deleted most of them already when we were still on holiday and kept a very few as a reminder for myself. Well, I thought it would just be a souvenir for my eyes only, but I know discovered that I took photos of different gulls… So I happen to have a

Herring Gull


and a Mew Gull


With this one I actually discussed with the Föhr Birding Guru the possibility if it might be a Yellwo-Legged Gull as the above gull seems to have a red dot on its beak which is not present in the Mew Gull. But my idea was dismissed… Would be too much luck for me anyway, I guess, as the guru himself hasn’t been able to photograph them yet.

You could also argue that it might be a Lesser Black-Backed Gull as well as they got yellow legs as well, but the feathers on the back don’t seem to be dark enough for that. And it can’t be another Herring Gull as those don’t sport yellow legs.

Another Mew Gull, this one collecting nest material:



On this one I’m not sure at all. It could be a Herring Gull, but might as well be a Lesser Black-Backed Gull. The lighting on it doesn’t really help.



Blackheaded Gull



Apart from the Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Mew Gull, Black-Headed Gull you could also get the Great Blackback Gull or the Black-Legged Kittiwake but I don’t have a photo of those. I might have caught one or more of them but because I hadn’t realized that, I deleted them because they were of poor quality… Although the kittwake is rather rare on top of it.

Then there have been the odd sightings of the Yellow-Legged Gull, the Glaucous Gull, the Little Gull, the Great Skua, the Arctic Skua, and the Pomaring Skua.
But obviously not for me. -O

[Amoli]

Super pictures, and I love the info. Thanks...

[Dewi]

Great stuff on the Gulls Mel.

Love the Common Gull flight shot. (Just to throw some confusion into the pot - Common Gull is what we call Mew Gull. ).

Keep an eye out for Mediterranean and Little Gulls as well when you are there in the right season.

[Lisbeth]

-O -O
"...can hardly be told from ...." They are birds!!!

Fantastic pics of the.........? gulls

[Flutterby]

Beautiful pics Mel!!

[Mel]

I'm having regular visits of a blackbird mum who must be rearing her offspring nearby.
Dad is also around regularly, but haven't managed to get him yet.

[Lisbeth]

Nice one