1cy Herring x Caspian hybrid

Yesterday I visited Simrishamn, a great place for gulling in Sweden. Except for four Yellow-legged Gulls I also saw a Herring x Caspian Gull hybrid. I initially saw it in the binoculars with its wings up and I thought "nice, a young Caspian Gull!".

Here, the pale underwing that got me thinking of Caspian is visible. The pale window at inner primaries fits Herring better than Caspian.

After scoping it I found out all the upperparts including tertials were of Herring type.

Still, the

bird's shape was all Caspian Gull as well as its face.

Photo serie of a 2nd cy Caspian Gull

After a great summer (in gulling perspective) at Öland in the SE of Sweden I went home to Köping in the middle part of Sweden, 150km inland. The plan was to stay there for a few days before going back to Lund in the south again. I wondered if there could be any Caspian Gulls in Köping a good gull summer like this. The first morning I headed for the rubbish dump and at a field nearby I found a group of barely 100 gulls. Among those Herring Gulls were a few Great Black-backed Gulls and... a 2nd cy Caspian Gull, and a perfect individual too! This was the third record of this species in the province of Västmanland and the first for Köping. I wonder if I was just lucky or if this species is frequent in the lake Mälaren. Anyhow, here follows a photo serie of the gull who's surrounded by Herring Gulls ssp. argentatus and some Great Black-backed Gulls.