This is indeed a fascinating bird and well worth careful study. The photos and video grabs are not so shabby and just go to prove how much useful information can be captured under less than ideal conditions. Well done guys!
The standing bird is quite striking and I like the leg color, fact that both eyes are dark (it's not so uncommon to see gulls with one eye dark, the other light), the way the brown smudging concentrates above the shoulders (like a loosely wrapped shawl), the color and shape of the bill and also the bulging white bar on the tips of the secondaries. It also looks noticeably short legged. The primary tips look black (not gray) and beyond what I'd expect for 'Kumlein's' but maybe this is a simplified/outdated view. I'll leave it to the experts to decided whether the patterning on P5 is beyond the expected range for classic Thayer's, but as Doug has said already, this subtle detail seems to be the focus of any lingering concerns. It seems ironic that Alvaro Jaramillo, a Thayer's expert from California was just down earlier this week and asked about the frequency of Thayer's Gull on the coast. In my view they are extremely rare, much more so than in western or central New York, but maybe not entirely absent. Lots of gulls are on the move now, so it's worth checking every little gathering, if nothing else to gain a deeper understanding of how our gulls vary from one to the next. For those interested in following the details, a good place to start is this comparison of the wings from the University of Puget Sound museum. Upper: adult Thayer's, Jan; Lower: adult Herring Gull (note: this is a 'western' American Herring), Dec.; both from Washington State. http://www2.ups.edu/biology/museum/THGU-HEGUwing1.jpg http://www2.ups.edu/biology/museum/THGU-HEGUwing2.jpg Remember these are just single wings and do not address the issue of individual variation - a thorny issue that often confounds the identification of large gulls. -- Angus Wilson New York City & The Springs, NY, USA http://birdingtotheend.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
