About a thousand gulls were reported on Larimer County Christmas Bird Counts on Jan 1. On Saturday, Jan 2, I visited the Larimer landfill for gull viewing (check in at front gate for permission and parking instructions). Highlights included an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, juvenile Glaucous Gull and a small juvenile/first winter California Gull, plus some Herring Gulls and about a hundred Ring-billed Gulls. Most interesting was a putative 4th cycle Cook Inlet Gull (Glaucous-winged x American Herring), which in the field appeared as a Herring when sitting, and a Thayer's in flight. Photos told a different tale.
On Sunday afternoon, 3 January 2016, I watched gulls assemble for the nocturnal roost at Carter Lake's ice-free north end (fee area). Several hundred Ring-billed Gulls were accompanied by a dozen American Herring Gulls (mostly adults and a couple first-cycles), 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (a large first-cycle, a 3rd-cycle, 2 adults), 2 Glaucous (the juvenile and a magnificent adult), 1 juvenile Thayer's and the small 1st-cycle California. Birds were arriving from the south and the north. Telescope required at both sites (more so at Carter Lake). Nick Komar Fort Collins CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/677328113.11567512.1451927901011.JavaMail.zimbra%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
