Gigantic gull, plus now look at how dark this bird’s mantle and scapulars are. Great Black-backed right…
3rd cycle – increasing pale coloration in the bill, look close and you can see the eye is paling also, less dark markings on the body, and more white in the tail to separate this bird from img 2, but still lots of non-adult-like scapulars, wing coverts, and primaries to separate this bird from an adult.
Virginia Beach VA
February 2011