This is the fifth of eight white-winged gulls found in Hirtshals Harbour in just one afternoon, with seven Kumlien's /Iceland Gull-types and one 2cy Glaucous Gull.
It is considered to be an Iceland Gull though this is not to say it is not Kumlien's Gulls. It has without doubt some rather dark peppered eyes, faint pigmentation along the tip of the outer primaries and a few photos even gives the impression of a faint version of “a string of pearls” which is good for Kumlien’s. However, whether these characters are considered sufficient to claim a Kumlien's in Europe I will leave unanswered and put it down as an Iceland Gull for now. Another photo taken on January 21 of what is believed to be the same individual can be seen here. Any comments are more than welcome.
The primary pattern is just about identical to this and this from Hirtshals and this from Hanstholm. The latter has been identified as a Kumlien's Gull by local people due to the faint dark pigmentation along the very tip of the outer primaries.
There were three almost identical near-adult Iceland Gulls in the harbour. Luckily they were all seen at the same time late in the afternoon; however, if you look careful and compare with this and this you will also see that there are slight differences in the extent of their winter shawl.
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