Whilst birdwatching Al Khobar recently I came across this interesting looking gull. It is most probably a second winter heuglini, based on greyish-tinged upperparts, which should be darker (black) in fuscus. The short bill and rounded head suggest a female, which jizz-wise is close to fuscus, but with the rounder head and heavier bill it appears closer to heuglini.Heuglin’s Gull is a regular winter visitor to the Eastenr Province of Saudi Arabia whereasfuscus is rare, but to exclude a fuscus (immature wintering to the north of the wintering range) completely is often not possible. It appears to be a second winter due to amount of black on the bill, pink-coloured legs and brown mottling on the wing feathers.
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