I haven't had chance to upload any of my shots of this bird after we saw it yesterday, when it was picked up by Harry (last name?) But, I did notice, like Shai, that it seemed to be moulting and presumbaly into adult winter. I am not sure if it means anything, but the tips of the primaries are rather frayed and seem to have "pinholes" in them. I am not sure what the cause of these small holes would be, but they look strange; also the tips of the tail are rather heavily frayed. The secondaries on one wing also look as though they are shorter and are perhaps growing in?
It would be interesting to hear from others with experience how this bird's plumage fits in with moult cycles of Gray-headed and whether anything is out of sync with its feather wear. All in all, a surreal first time visit to Coney Island and watching this mega flying around beach-goers like a typical laugher! Julian Hough, New Haven, CT -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
