Ring-billed Gull

So, I've gotten very busy at work. Not just work load, but travel too. In addition, I've gotten a bit burned out with blogging. But, since I really enjoy the combination of birding, photography and blogging I don't want to give it up. I guess I just need to work through this busy time and not let the blogging slip away.
Last week I was in the small town of Leominster, MA overseeing the commissioning of a new lighting system in their high school. Since school was in session, we had to wait until classes were over for the day before we could start work. That gave me the opportunity to spend some time birding in the mornings.
I spent some of the time on both Tuesday and Thursday hiking around Mirror Lake in Coggshall Park in nearby Fitchburg. On Tuesday the lake was frozen over and birds were scarce, but by Thursday things had warmed up enough that most of the lake was melted and people were out enjoying the weather.
The birding wasn't much better, but there was a flock of Ring-billed Gulls on the lake. At one point, a family started throwing bread out to the gulls. I decided to take advantage of the situation and began shooting the gulls as they flew about the area.

While the Ring-billeds at the top of this post are clearly adults and mostly in clear breeding plumage, the bird above appears to still be in non-breeding plumage.

This bird appears to be a 1st winter based on the black band on its tail.

At one point there was quite a commotion as, for some reason, an adult got quite upset at one of the juveniles. It chased and pecked at the youngster until they both finally settled back down on the water.

Ring-billed Gull

I found a trusting Ring-billed gull along the shore of the bay by the Hatfield Marine Science Center a week ago Saturday. At one point it plucked a small crab out of the water, shook it bit and then gobbled it down.

Ring-billed Gull

A more obvious Ring-billed Gull than what I posted in the past. Though I've only visited it once, Westmoreland Park appears to be a great place to get close shots of a variety of gulls.

Ring-billed Gull

I'm going to take a bit of a chance. I find Gulls to be confusing. Not only are there many that appear very similar, they also go through various darker plumage stages as they grow through their first couple of years.
I believe the bird in the image above is a Ring-billed Gull. The bill is a match as is the pale gray back and wings. The light peppering on the head and neck is also consistent with a non-breeding adult. The only concern I have is the medium colored eye and the lack of white spots on its wing tips. Typically the eye is paler yellow. This could be just a variation or it could be that the bird has not reached full maturity.