On Sunday evening, several birders were on hand to study the staging gulls in the northwest corner of Lake Loveland. I got there early thinking that the gulls might arrive early as the local landfill is closed on Sundays. At 2 pm, only Ring-billed Gulls (about 150) were present. A Thayer’s Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull made brief appearances. Numbers swelled as the sun set (after 3:30 pm), and numerous larger gulls arrived. My tally (estimated) was: Ring-billed Gull – 300 Herring Gull – 40 Lesser Black-backed Gull – 3 (1 adult, 1 3rd-cycle, 1 2nd-cycle) Thayer’s Gull – 2 juv Glaucous Gull – 2 juv California Gull – 1 ad Mystery Gulls – 3, described below...
Possible Nelson’s Gull – 1 2nd-cycle. Nelson’s is hybrid Herring x Glaucous Gull. This gull looked like a large 2nd year Herring Gull but its folded wing was very pale, except for dark primaries, and it had a long pale bill with a black tip typical of a young Glaucous Gull. Possible Vega Gull – 1 adult. Vega is the Western Alaska form of Herring Gull that normally winters in Asia; this Herring Gull-sized bird looked like an adult Herring Gull but its gray mantle was one shade darker, like California Gull or Mew Gull. The white tertial and scapular crescents were obvious in the failing light. The color of the eye was not discernable, but the eye had a dark appearance. The winter plumage brown streaking on the head was very faint but widespread on the head, nape and upper sides. I could not see the leg color, which would be needed to rule out other north Asian and European gull species, and possible hybrids, like Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull. So, keep your eyes out for this one, and get photos! Possible Western Gull – 1 1st-cycle. This bird showed up just as it was getting too dark to see, but its features stood out among the other gulls. It was large, standing taller than all the accompanying gulls, including several Herring Gulls. It was uniformly colored a cold gray-brown, but somewhat splotchy around the neck and head. Its all-black bill was very large, long and thick (but not grossly thick like a Kelp Gull) and held at a drooping angle, giving it a typical “Western Gull look”. It had very dark (blackish) primaries and tertials, the latter narrowly edged whitish. Western Gull was only first documented in Colorado this year (an adult at Chatfield Reservoir this summer), so better views of this youngster (and photos) will be needed to nail this one down. Nick Komar Fort Collins CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
