01 July 2020

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 to increase in the summer season, especially for the last 3 consecutive 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.