This evening between 6:15 and 6:35 I observed a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the far West end of Black Dog Lake, on the lake and the concrete pipe and castings that extend outward from the South shore. As the plumage was a little unusual, I'll only refer to it as a "sub-adult" type bird. The bill wasn't as golden yellow as on a full adult bird, and retained a black spot on the gonys. The head was white but coarsely streaked with brownish gray, heaviest at the base of the neck in back. There was a dark spot in front of the pale yellow eye. The mantle wasn't as dark as some birds I've seen previously, and was suggestive of the graellsii subspecies. It was distinctly darker mantled than any Ring-billed Gull in side by side comparison. The wings showed all dark at the tips of p8-10. P1-7 were white tipped, and the white may have extended into the tips of the secondaries closest to p1. However, there was mostly no white edge to the secondaries. I didn't notice any brownish coloring in the dark gray wing feathers. The tail and rump appeared clean white, at least from the angles that I could see. The legs appeared to be a yellowish tan. In size, it was larger than all of the RBGU's. Once it flew back to the concrete, I was able to compare it with the only Herring Gull present, and it was definitely smaller in size to that species as well. When I studied the head shape, the bird was thrashing about bathing, and seemed flat headed on the crown. That probably accounted for the odd shape, as the bird was repeatedly submerging its head underwater. So, the Fall gulling season begins! What will be found this year??? Drew Smith Eagan, Dakota county
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