Your e-mails received OK. Dropped the book through your letterbox on Saturday morning. Let me know that you've got it and I've not given it to a neighbour by mistake! Use this forum or my personal e-mail. Steve
I've looked on the "net" to see what they're going for and I only found one - at £36! You can have my copy for £7.50!
If you want it, let me have your address and I'll pop it in the post or through your letterbox - I only live over the hill in Mossley. You can e-mail me on suttill.parkinson@virgin.net
I think I may have a spare copy of Harris, Tucker and Vinicombe somewhere at home. It's good for all the tricky species, not just gulls. Let me know if you're interested and I'll see if I can find it!
If you're really starting out on gulls, don't dwell on books too much for the time being, although learning the topography of all the various feather tracts and plumage markings is a must! Get yourself down to a roost and concentrate on attempting to note the differences between the commoner species, especially the large gulls (Herring, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed), importantly their immature plumages and locating the various feather tracts (tertials, lesser, median and greater coverts ect). Start with the very basics, noting the size and shape differences for yourself, mantle colouration of adults, moving on to the differences in feather markings on immatures (tertials and wing covert patterns) and don't attempt anything too difficult just yet (so no Yellow legged Gulls!) until you're happy with confidently identifying the common species in all their plumages.
Tom's gull book recomendations are spot on and the Olsen and Larson book will easily confuse and probably put you off, so stay away for the time being!
Have a look at the 'Gulls, Glorious Gulls' article on the main website (in 'Articles and Identification Issues') if you haven't already. It doesn't (intentionally) delve into the identification of gulls as this is such a huge and potentially complicated subject, but should be of some interest.
If you're just kicking off with gulls then try and get hold of the MacMillan guide to bird identification by Harris, Tucker and Vinicombe. It's absolutely brilliant and still the first book I tend to reach for. It's sadly out of print but available every now and then on eBay. Peter Grant's guide to gulls published by Poyser is also brilliant and often on eBay for under a tenner. The Handbook of Bird Identification by Beaman and Madge also has good pictures and text on gulls but is a bit pricey.
The Olsen and Larsson guide is pretty overwhelming and much of it irrelevant to British birding. I also think it tends to over-simplify a lot of stuff - 'Baltic Gull' being a good example.
andrew, i,m just starting to do my gull,s and the collin,s book mentioned is available on line (wh smith jersey £13.60 very quick delivery)its the one with a barn owl on the cover isbn0-00-711332-3 and is a essential in the field.I also have the rspb complete birds of britain and europe isbn 0-7513-7354-0 which is much larger but very easy on the eye book (birthday present but i know it cost 12.50 from one of the book shops end bins)so get the collins first and search the shelves for the bargain armchair study.also check the main site gullery for real pictures of what you,ll see,or not.
