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Not clear, but the right impression of the bird. The underparts are still dark, but lightly streaked. The head is getting pale, but retaining the eye patch. The wings are long, giving an elongated look and the tertials black and only lightly edged. The dark bar formed by the coverts is also visible again. The mantle and scapulars are distinctly marked, giving a bit of a scaly look.
The bill is blurry, and looks outsized in this photo, but is long and slender on Lesser Black-backs. A good mark later in the winter is bill color, as 1st-winter Herring Gulls often develop a pale base to the bill, but Lesser Black-backs always show an entirely black bill through 1st-winter.
Copyright Michael Todd: Reuse only with permission
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