Monthly Notables June 2020

Sightings:

• Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle). Lincoln County, Oregon. 01 June 2020.
• Continuing. Apparently only the second "June" record, locally.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Montreal County, Quebec.03 June 2020.
• Sabine's Gull (adult). La Vallee-de-l-'Or County, Quebec. 04 June 2020.
• Franklin's Gull (2nd cycle type). New London County, Connecticut. 05 June 2020.
• Laughing Gull (2 - 2nd cycles). Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. 10 June 2020.
• 2nd County Record. 
• Glaucous-winged Gull (2nd cycle). Wichita County, Texas. 08 June 2020.
• Pending acceptance. Would be 2nd State Record. 
• Great Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Lake County, Illinois. 10 June 2020.
• Laughing Gull (2nd cycle). Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. 11 June 2020.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Cape Many County, New Jersey. 13 June 2020.
• Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle). Glynn County, Georgia. 13 June 2020.
• Laughing Gull (adult). Jackson County, Colorado. 13 June  2020.
• Iceland Gull (2nd cycle). Allegan County, Michigan. 15 June 2020.
• Laughing Gull (2nd cycle). Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. 15 June 2020.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Albany County, Wyoming. 16 June 2020.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Queen Anne's County, Maryland. 19 June 2020.
• 1st County Record. First summer record for MD since 2008.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Bay County, Michigan. 20 June 2020.
• 2nd County Record. Last seen in Bay County in December 1981. 
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 21 June 2020.
• Heermann's Gull (2nd cycle). Duval County, Florida. 21 June 2020.
• Now in it's 2nd plumage cycle. Same individual since August 2019.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Mendocino County, California. 22 June 2020.
• Franklin's Gull (1st cycle type). Macomb County, Michigan. 25 June 2020.
• Sabine's Gull (2nd cycle type). Los Angeles County, California. 27 June 2020.

Notes:

• The biggest surprise this month was the apparent Glaucous-winged type from Wichita County, Texas. It looks like a bona fide Glaucous-winged Gull, but bleaching on the primaries makes it impossible to ascertain previous patterns. Uppertail pattern favors Glaucous-winged Gull over a hybrid.
• 08 June 2020 - 2nd prebasic molt in motion with p1-p2 missing.
• 11 June 2020 - new p1 barely visible, just beyond primary coverts.
• 12 June 2020 - p3 missing, new p1 now clearly visible well beyond p-coverts.
• The other highlight this month is alternate adult Black-headed Gulls found in random places that they're not usually expected in the summer. Most notable is Bay County, Michigan which had not seen this species in the county in 39 years, and is now a first summer record. 
• Finally, summering Lesser Black-backeds in the interior continue have increased, especially for the last 3 years. Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska all reported 1-3 birds each. All of these individuals, expect for Wyoming, appear to be one-year-olds beginning their 2nd plumage cycles. 

June 2020 Quiz

June. Wisconsin.

Age:  It's safe to assume this is a 1st cycle based ont the black terminal band on the tail.

Identification: Our June bird appears to be a small, two-cycle, gull. The small, pointy bill, black pseudo-hood and thin black tips to the primaries immediately evoke Little Gull and Bonaparte's. It's difficult to judge bill proportions here, but Black-headed is safely ruled out not only by the bill's color, but also by the white under side to the primaries. As for Bonaparte's, that species would show a prominent black trailing edge running across all of the remiges. Here's an example of a typical trailing edge on Bonaparte's:

Instead, what we see here is a "spotty" black trailing edge that is discontinuous and weakly patterned, which leaves us with Little Gull.

Monthly Notables May 2020

Sightings:

• Little Gull (adult). Elkhart County, Indiana. 01 May 2020.
• Western Gull (3rd cycle type). Grand Prairie County, Alberta. 04 May 2020.
• An apparent 1st record for the province.
• Heermann's Gull (1st cycle). Duval County, Florida. 04 May 2020.
• Continuing from April 2020. Same individual roaming the FL coast since August 2019.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). San Diego County, California. 06 May 2020.
• Glaucous Gull (1st cycle). Harrison County, Mississippi. 07 May 2020.
• California Gull (3rd cycle). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 09 May 2020.
• Glaucous Gull (1st cycle). Galveston County, Texas. 10 May 2020.
  
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Kenai Peninsula County, Alaska. 11 May 2020.
• Likely the same individual from Anchor Point on 07 May 2020.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Iqaluit, Nunavut. 16 May 2020.
• 2nd record for the territory. Wearing an unread silver band on right leg.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Iqaluit, Nunavut. 16 May 2020.
• Seen at the same landfill in Baffin where the Black-headed above was found.
• Franklin's Gull (adult). La Vallee-de-l'Or County, Quebec. 17 May 2020.
• Glaucous Gull (1st cycle type). Walla Walla County, Washington. 17 May 2020.
• Little Gull (1st cycle). Edmonton County, Alberta. 18 May 2020.
• Great Black-backed Gull (1st cycle). Dubuque County, Iowa. 24 May 2020.
  
• Slaty-backed Gull (2nd cycle). San Francisco County, California. 27 May 2020.
• Laughing Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 27 May 2020.

May 2020 Quiz

Michigan. August.

Age: This month's quiz is timely with many gulls in the northern hemisphere now beginning to replace flight feathers. Undergoing a complete molt, this individual has renewed most of its primaries which have an adult-like pattern to them. Overall the upperwing and tail are far from "definitive adult" and so it is perfectly fine to assume the newer flight feathers that have come in are 3rd generation. Thus, this is the 3rd plumage cycle and the complete molt here is the 3rd prebasic molt. The old retained primary (p10) is 2nd generation.

Identification: The brownish cast to the upperparts impart a darker feel than is typical of this species. Focusing on the new primaries, it is apparent that we're looking at a paler gray species. The bill is on the heavy side, but proportionately sized with the head. The eye appears dark, but zooming in shows much speckling and paling -- this helps rule out California Gull. The wide and complete tailband, and bill pattern, are wrong for a Ring-billed Gull, among several other features. The only reasonable identification for this pink-legged, pale, large white-headed gull, is Herring Gull.

Monthly Notables April 2020

Sightings:

• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Douglas County, Wisconsin. 02 April 2020.
• Mew Gull (1st cycle). Nueces County, Texas. 03  April 2020.
• Continuing from February 2020. 
• Yellow-legged Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 07 April 2020.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Chittenden County, Vermont. 07 April 2020.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Ventura County, California. 07 April 2020.
• California Gull (subadult). Elkhart County, Indiana. 10 April 2020.
• Little Gull (adult). Prince William County, Virginia. 17 April 2020.
• Heermann's Gull (2nd cycle). Pima County, Arizona. 18 April 2020.
• Little Gull (adult). Elkhart County, Indiana. 20 April 2020.
• Laughing Gull (1st cycle). San Francisco County, California. 20 April 020.
• Apparent 4th record for San Francisco.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Suffolk County, New York. 21 April 2020.
• Franklin's Gull (2 adults). San Mateo & San Francisco County, California. 24 April 2020.
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Mason County, West Virginia. 24 April 2020.
• Heermann's Gull (1st cycle). Duval County, Florida. 26 April 2020.
• 1st County Record. Roaming eastern Florida coast since August 2019.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Racine County, Wisconsin. 27 April 2020.
• Black-tailed Gull (adult). Central Okanagan District, British Columbia. 30 April 2020.

April 2020 Quiz

Age: An apparent large white-headed gull that appears to be beyond its 1st cycle. Notice the marbled inner greater coverts and lower tertial edges. Also, there appears to be three generations of median coverts. The mid median coverts are oldest. These worn and frayed feathers are likely 2nd basic. The outer median coverts are fresher and may have come in with a later 2nd prebasic wave (along with the lesser coverts). The darker gray inner medians are very likely 2nd alternate. All in all, the upperparts do not fit a 1st cycle. It's difficult to make out primary-tip shape or patterns, but the very small and indistinct white tips to p6-p7 on otherwise black primaries are expected on 2nd generation flight feathers.

Identification: This is a four-year gull with an apparent long wing projection, prominent gape with a "frown", a dark post-ocular line, pinched in forehead, straight tubular bill with a familiar distal-black, proximal-red pattern on the tip, bluish tibia, heavy lower neck markings, and medium gray upperparts coming in. The gull in the background is a heavy-billed Western Gull giving us a very good sense of overall body size and shape. I hope by now you've settled on California Gull if you were unsure about our April quiz. Many people nailed this one without a problem this month but were tripped up by plumage/age. One final note on that, notice the very tip to the bill. In 1st cycles, the tip is typically all black, similar to that we see in many 1st-2nd cycle Glaucous.

Santa Cruz County, California. January.

Monthly Notables March 2020

Sightings:

• Black-headed Gull (adult). Riverside County, California. 01 March 2020.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (adult). Larimer County, Colorado. 01 March 2020.
• California Gull (adult). St. Joseph County, Indiana. 01 March 2020.
• Little Gull (adult). Allegan County, Michigan. 02 March 2020.
• Great Black-backed Gull (1st cycle). Lancaster County, Nebraska. 06 March 2020.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Comox-Strathcona District, British Columbia. 07 March 2020.
• Little Gull (adult). Davidson County, Tennessee. 08 March 2020.
• Mew Gull (adult). Clay County, Missouri. 11 March 2020.
• 2nd State Record.
• Kumlien's Gull (1st cycle). Harrison County, Mississippi. 11 March 2020.
• Laughing Gull (adult). St. Charles County, Missouri. 11 March 2020.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Sitka County, Alaska. 12 March 2020.
• California Gull (adult). Scott County, Minnesota. 15 March 2020.
• 1st County Record.
• Sabine's Gull (adult). San Diego County, California. 18 March 2020.
• Great Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Lancaster County, Nebraska. 19 March 2020.
• Heermann's Gull (1st cycle). Nassau County, Florida. 19 March 2020.
• Same individual spotted along the eastern Florida coast all winter.
• Sabine's Gull (adult). San Bernadino County, California. 21 March 2020.
• Little Gull (adult). Galveston County, Texas. 21 March 2020.
• California Gull (adult). Dakota County, Minnesota. 23 March 2020.
• Slaty-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Monterey County, California. 27 March 2020.
• Heermann's Gull (1st cycle). St. John's County, Florida. 27 March 2020.
• Same individual spotted along the eastern Florida coast all winter.
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Wayne County, Ohio. 28 March 2020.
• Kamchatka Gull (adult). Nantucket County, Massachusetts. 28 March 2020.

Notes:

1) On 19 March 2020, Priscilla Footlik reported "the" 1st cycle Heermann's Gull that has been wintering on the eastern Florida coast at Fernandina Beach in Nassau County. This is the northernmost sighting of this individual, just a rock's throw from the Georgia border.