I have been reading your recent comments on Frontiers of ID, and thought you might be interested in photos of a similar-looking bird that I found today in Juneau, Alaska. I hope the photos may be useful to you, at the very least in showing the extent to which the mantle can vary in degree of gray/blackness. There is an array of different aged Glaucous-winged Gulls for comparison.
These superb photographs were taken by NICK HAJDUKOVICH, a very good friend of mine.
Best wishes,
Gus van Vliet
Juneau, Alaska
Gus van Vliet
Juneau, Alaska
