Sightings:
- Kelp Gull (adult). Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. 01 June 2025.
- 1ST STATE RECORD*.
- Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle type). Virginia Beach County, Virginia. 01 June 2025.
- Black-headed Gull (2nd cycle). Lambton County, Ontario. 02 June 2025.
- Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle). Portage la Prairie County, Manitoba. 04 June 2025.
- Thayer's Gull (2nd cycle). Sitka City & Borough, Alaska. 05 June 2025.
- Ross's Gull (adult). Nome Census Area, Alaska. 06 June 2025.
- Sabine's Gull (2nd cycle). Kleberg County, Texas. 06 June 2025.
- Sabine's Gull (adult). Rockingham County, New Hampshire. 08 June 2025.
- Black-headed Gull (adult). Fairfield County, Ohio. 09 June 2025.
- Seen in Delaware County, Ohio the next day, 10 June 2025.
- Black-headed Gull (2nd cycle). Bay County, Michigan. 18 June 2025.
- Apparently, the same individual from Lambton County, Ontario.
- Black-tailed Gull (adult). Buldir Island, Alaska. 16 June 2025.
- Vega Gull (3rd cycle). Sitka, Alaska. 16 June 2025.
- Lesser Black-backed Gull (3rd cycle). King County, Washington. 17 June 2025.
- Sabine's Gull (2nd cycle). Cape May County, New Jersey. 19 June 2025.
- California Gull (2nd cycle). Lake County, Indiana. 20 June 2025.
- Franklin's Gull (2nd cycle type). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 23 June 2025.
- Laughing Gull (2nd cycle type). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 23 June 2025.
- Ross's Gull (adult). Baffin County, Nunavut. 26 June 2025.
- Ivory Gull (adult). Baffin County, Nunavut. 26 June 2025.
- Little Gull (3 2nd cycle type, 1 adult). Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. 30 June 2025.
- Ross's Gull (adult). Baffin County, Nunavut. 30 June 2025.
- Iceland Gull (2nd cycle). Portage la Prairie County, Manitoba. 30 June 2025.
Notes:
- The Milwaukee Kelp Gull (male), now seen by hundreds of birders, was present all through the month of June in an industrial rooftop colony, hybridizing with an American Herring Gull. Long time Wisconsin birder Tom Schultz unknowingly photographed this adult on a nest last June (2024) and only discovered the black-backed gull while editing his images months later. At the time, it was understandably assumed to be a Great Black-backed Gull. In late May of 2025 (almost one year later), Amar Ayyash independently followed up on this sighting, and much to his surprise, not only found that the bird had returned to the same spot, he found it had yellow legs! After studying the bird and securing open wing images, it was identified as a Kelp Gull by Ayyash. The only known chick was found dead on 17 June 2025. The adult pair was seen bonding, copulating and reinforcing their nest the following day. Both adults have been seen intermittently resting on the nest and copulating a number of times, but it is unknown if new eggs have been laid. It'll be interesting to learn what July brings, and furthermore, whether or not the bird returns in 2026. Interestingly, this event constitutes Wisconsin's 1st State record, and it is the first confirmed occurrence of a Kelp Gull nesting in North America, outside of the Chandeleur Islands where American Herrings and Kelp Gulls were first discovered hybridizing around the year 1990. Furthermore, it is the farthest north a Kelp Gull has ever nested, worldwide!
- On 05 June 2025, Kalin Ocana reported a nesting hybrid pair that appeared to involve a Western x Glaucous-winged (so-called Olympic Gull) paired with an American Herring Gull on Kopje Island in Lake Country in the Okanagan Valley. Although this three-way hybrid has been suspected in the past, this is the first documented nest site that I know of.
- An adult Western Gull from the Farallon Islands, fit with a GPS logger, has been documented hitching a ride in a long-haul transfer truck from San Francisco to the Central Valley of California. The female gull was recorded doing this on two separate occasions, two days apart. More can be found in the most recent issue of Waterbirds, 48(1): 1-5.