We had several years of visitation here in Maryland by a Kelp Gull (female) and we came to know its many distinctive features. This bird has many in common, but also just enough differences to bother Tyler Bell and me. We like the gonys spot, the gonydial angle, the bill and head shape, the single apical spot on P10, the uniform black saddle. Even the pale streaking on its head isn't bad. But we don't like the orbital ring nor the eye color (iris--which is good for the South African subspecies, but not for any of the other ones) and the leg color is just too weird. I don't know enough about other KEGU races to compare it beyond that, but it's an odd mix of features, that's for sure! Fabulous pictures!
