3cy Caspian gull Øra, 12th of january

This nice 3cy Caspian gull was present for a few minutes at Øra today. Unfortunately it was only seen inside a semi-open building for sorting waste, so all pictures were taken through dense netting. Inevitably, a bulldozer soon made it disappear..It is not very advanced to be a caspian gull with just a few median coverts and no tertials renewed. Many 3cy herring gulls are in a similar state of moult at this time of year.

Dark 2nd winter mystery gull

This strange gull was present for a few minutes at Øra, Fredrikstad on january the 7th. It has a very dark mantle and a striking jizz. Large body (comparable to GBBG), pot-bellied, appearing somewhat small-headed/short billed due to bulk of the body. It may of course turn out to be the "usual suspect" - herring gull in the dark end of the spectrum, but it really was something special. The heavy body and the dark mantle can even be reminiscent of certain 2nd winter Slaty-backed gulls (Larus schistisagus), but that would be to stretch it too far, I guess:-)
A hybrid, perhaps? Comments would be appreciated!