A return trip to Devil's Hole State Park on the lower Niagara River in Niagara Co. this morning turned up the continuing adult California and "Nelson's" (Herring x Glaucous) Gulls from last Sunday, along with a returning (after comparing photos) adult Thayer's Gull that was photographed at the same location back on 16 December 2011.
Photos of the "Nelson's" Gull are at the beginning of the photo set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpawli10 A few features to note on the Nelson's, compared to adjacent ad Herring Gulls are the generally large size, short primary projection past the tertials, (marginally) paler gray mantle and upperwings, and reduced black markings on the outer primaries, all suggesting Glaucous Gull influence. Thayer's Gull taken on 16 December can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpawli10/6527359489/in/photostream Jim Pawlicki Amherst, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
