Herring Gull L. a. argentatus

These Herring Gulls of the form argentatus were photographed at the VAM rubbish-dump near Wijster in the Netherlands. The top picture was taken on 20 November, the bottom one on 27 November 1999. These juvenile northern gulls are sometimes larger than argenteus-types and can be confused with Greater Black-backed Gull L. marinus. Note the different patterned tertials of the two birds. Not the short legs of the bottom bird, which seems to be typical for these fresh-looking gulls.