Crazy Gulls!

      Last Wednesday, Andrew Burnett came up from Neosho County to bird the Reno Co landfill.  He had what he thought was an Iceland Gull, a possible California Gull, and another first cycle gull he thought might be a Western.  He emailed Joseph, who went over right away with Anthony and managed to confirm that there was indeed a first cycle California and an intermediate Thayer's/Iceland Gull, which we still aren't convinced on either way.  They couldn't find the possible Western.  He did find a first cycle Great Black-backed Gull at the sandpit!

Good looking first cycle Great Black-backed!  Photo by Joseph

First cycle California.  It is the dark one close to the middle.  Photo by Anthony

Unfortunately, I couldn't go that day and when Joseph and I went the next day we didn't see any of the rarities.  As a consolation, we did have our highest count for Glaucous Gulls in one day, with three individuals!

This hulking first cycle Glaucous really stuck out!

On Saturday, Mark Land came down from Overland Park and together we went to check on things again.  We checked the sandpit first and refound the first cycle Glaucous along with a Thayer's.  Next, we headed over to a wheat field across from the landfill where several thousand gulls were loafing.  Before we even got out of the car I spotted a large black backed gull and let everybody know that there was either a Great Black-backed or a Slaty-backed out there!  We got out and put Mark's scope on it and it turned out to be a Great Black-backed!  That means there were two individuals there within three days of each other!  Not bad for review list birds!

Unfortunately, the Great Black-backed was far enough away that we could only manage trashy pics.

The gulls were far enough away that we decided to head on over to the landfill.  We pulled in and asked where to park, and they told us to go over right beside the fence.  After about fifteen minutes, we saw a first cycle California, but unfortunately it was right behind the fence.  We did get great binocular views, just not pics.  It was probably the same one that Joseph had on Wednesday.

We also refound the same gull we had seen on Christmas day, one that we thought might be a Cook Inlet Gull (Hybrid Herring x Glaucous-winged.)  When we sent it to the experts, there were varying opinions.  Several thought it was a Cook Inlet while one thought it was a normal Thayer's.  Oh, the joy of gulls!

Mystery Gull.

This first cycle Thayer's made several close passes by the vehicle, so I just had to snap a few pics.

On Wednesday, Joseph and Anthony had 7 species of gulls and when we went on Saturday we got that many again.  Those are our best single day gull species counts ever!  I thought that since this winter was warmer we might have a bit of a down gull year, but I was wrong!

Andrew

The Hybrid Gulls of Winter 2014-2015

With gull season slowly heating up, I've been impatient to get out and spend some quality time with some larids. Unfortunately school has kept me too busy to do much birding, but I have gotten around reviewing some of our gull photos from last winter.

I meant to post a summary of the gulls we saw last year, but seeing that didn't happen I guess I'll  whack out a quick post detailing the hybrid gulls we found.

I was watching gulls at the sandpit on January 22 when I saw this gull whip by. I looked up, thought "Oh, just another Thayer's" and shot a quick pic. Glancing at the back of the camera I thought it looked a little odd, but promptly forgot about it...

 Until, on the 20th of February Bryant and Andrew came upon this gull at the landfill. From their photos, I immediately recognized it as either the same bird I had seen or a nearly identical individual. With their much better photos it seems clear that this is a "Nelson's" Gull, a hybrid between Glaucous and Herring Gulls

Photo by Andrew

 The unique primary pattern, with P8-P10 "slatyish" nearly to the base but P7 mostly pale was the first thing I noticed. This is quite different from both Herring and Thayer's, but apparently standard for a 4th-cycle "Nelson's."

Photo by Andrew

 Note the short primary projection, large, blocky head, high eye-placement, and thick bill, all pointing to Glaucous influence

This great comparison shot shows the large size and paler mantle color of the hybrid well in comparison with Ring-billed and Herring.
Photo by Andrew

In retrospect it seems pretty obvious, and I'm surprised I didn't notice it in the field.

Andrew was gull-watching on the 3rd of February when he spotted this unusual gull. He sent to a few gull authorities who agreed that it was a "Cook Inlet" Gull, a Glaucous-winged X Herring Gull hybrid.

Andrew also found this gull which didn't seem to tick all the boxes for any particular species. Our best guess is that this is another "Cook Inlet" Gull. This hybrid, originating in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska, has rarely been sighted east of the Rockies, and this seems to the first record of this hybid in Kansas.

Anyway, hopefully we will get some good northern gulls here soon. So far this winter we have only found a few Thayer's and Lesser Black-backed.

Joseph

Landfill Report: February 20

We (Bryant and I) went to the landfill yesterday and had a pretty good day. When we got there all the gulls were sitting a couple hundred yards away and were positioned straight into the sun. We were contemplating how long we should stay, when they started coming in towards the trash pile to eat. Soon we had a nice gathering of them in close, although the lighting was still poor.  There was eventually enough cloud cover that we could pick out a nice variety of gulls including the following: 15 Thayer's Gulls,  5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls,  2 Iceland (Kumlien's) Gulls, and 2 intermediate Thayer's/Kumlien's. We also had a possible Nelson's Gull (Herring x Glaucous). Thoughts on this bird?

Possible Nelson's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

Possible Nelson's Gull:  Photo by Bryant

1st cycle Kumlien's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

1st cycle Kumlien's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

Adult Thayer's Gull:  Photo by Andrew

  Andrew

Reno County Landfill report: February 12

 Bryant, Andrew and I spent the afternoon at the Reno County Landfill and the adjacent sandpit. We had, shall we say, an amazing time. We pulled up to the sandpit and carefully scanned the 1000 or so gulls sitting on the water. A 3rd cycle Lesser Black-backed was the only bird of interest for a while, but then Bryant spotted a very pale gull coming in. We looked at it carefully for the next few minutes and it concluded that it was probably a 2nd cycle Iceland. That would be the second one in three days! We moved around the sandpit and got better looks, though no good photos. It eventually flew off towards the landfill so we headed over there.

We promptly found several 1st cycle Thayer's and a few more LBBG of various ages. I happened to glance over at some other gulls and spotted a 1st cycle Kumlien's standing just a short distance away! We cautiously approached within about 20 to 30 feet and got some great photos before it flew off. Although we will have to find out for sure on the 2nd cycle, we probably had two Kumlien's Icelands in one day! This is still a review species in Kansas with only about fifteen previous records.

Note the pale, patterned tertials and white primaries

2nd cycle Kumlien's /Thayer's? Thoughts on the ID?

Other highlights were: 10+ Thayer's Gull (these really need to be taken off the eBird filter), 7+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls (2 adults, 1 4th cycle, 2 3rd cycles and 2 1st cycles), A hybrid type, possibly GBBG x HEGU or very atypical Herring, Both a Ring-billed and a Herring with one dark, presumably defective eye and one banded 4th cycle Herring (I didn't notice it till I checked my photos on the way home). A total of five gull species for the day, my personal record!

One of the many Thayer's Gulls.This one is perhaps a bit darker than typical.

3rd cycle LBBG

3rd cycle LBBG

Hybrid Great Black-backed x Herring or aberrant Herring? Your thoughts are welcome on this. Photo by Andrew

Hybrid Great Black-backed x Herring or aberrant Herring? Your thoughts are welcome on this. Photo byAndrew

Banded 4th cycle Herring Gull

 Joseph