Cook Inlet Gull

On Tuesday the 3rd of February, I went to a local sandpit to watch gulls for a couple of hours.  Aside from the usual Herring and Ring-billed, I had one adult Lesser Black-backed and at least six Thayer's.  Towards the end of my stay I had a interesting second cycle Gull come by.  I first thought it was a Nelson's Gull (Herring x Glaucous), but was not at all sure so I sent it to the ebird reviewer for our area, Jon King.  He then sent it to Chris Wood and Marshall Iliff who both agreed it was a Cook Inlet Gull, which is a Glaucous-winged x Herring Gull hybrid.  This is the first record for the state, but is probably largely overlooked due to the problems in identifying them.

Cook Inlet Gull

Andrew