Monthly Notables January 2017

• Mew Gull (1st cycle). Will County, Illinois. 01 January 2017.
• Western Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 01 January 2017.
• Continuing all winter. Here since October 2016.
• Iceland Gull (adult). Flathead County, Montana. 01 January 2017.
• Nominate glaucoides candidate.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Pierce County, Washington. 01 January 2017,
• Continuing. Reoccurring. One of 3 in the state this month.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Niagara County, New York. 01 January 2017.
• Seen crossing back and forth into Niagara County, Ontario. 
• Franklin's Gull (2nd cycle). Volusia County, Florida. 02 January 2017.
• Common Gull (adult). Somerset County, New Jersey. 03 January 2017.
• 2nd state record. Head streaking, relatively thick bill and slightly darker upperparts than Ring-billed suggest nominate canus.
• Laughing Gull (1st cycle). Colfax County, New Mexico. 02 January 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Walla Walla County, Washington. 07 January 2016.
• Presumably back for a second winter.
• Vega Gull (adult). Cameron County, Texas. 07 January 2017.
• Presumably back for a third winter.
• Iceland Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 02 January 2017. 
• Kumlien's Gull (1st cycle). Stanislaus County, Califormia. 08 January 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Monterey County, California. 09 January 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Clallam County, Washington. 12 January 2017.
• Ross's Gull (adult). San Mateo County, California. 12 January 2017.
• 2nd state record. A pair of Peregrine Falcons depredated this individual mid-afternoon on 14 January 2017. The bird appeared healthy and was actively feeding on worms before its demise.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle type). San Mateo County, California. 14 January 2017.
• Black-tailed Gull (1st cycle). Monterey County, California. 13 January 2017.
• Only 3 accepted records for the state prior to this. First county record.
• California Gull (adult). Winnebago County, Wisconsin. 16 January 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (1st cycle). San Diego County, California. 16 January 2017.
• Photos of a very convincing 2nd calendar year bird of what is almost undeniably a young Slaty-backed Gull - the first of its kind to be identified with such broad consensus in North America. This will be a 1st county record.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Lincoln County, Oregon. 17 January 2017.
• Heermann's Gull (adult). Clark County, Nevada. 21 January 2017.
• Ross's Gull (1st cycle). Franklin County, New York. 25 January 2017.
• Only a couple records of this plumage in the lower 48 states. Excellent audio recording obtained by Andrew Spencer - perhaps the first time this age group has been recorded!
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Erie County, Pennsylvania. 27 January 2017
• Mew Gull (adult type). Kings County, New York. 27 January 2017.
• Possibly continuing from mid-December.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Shasta County, California. 27 January 2017.
• First county record.

Miscellaneous Notes

• A putative adult California x Ring-billed Gull was found and photographed by Mark Sawyer in Placer County, California. 06 January 2017. Beside showing a paling iris, the markings on the crown and nape were fine and thin, similar to Ring-billed. The primary pattern showed less black than expected on a typical California Gull and the gray upperparts appeared a shade paler than surrounding California Gulls.
• An adult Iceland Gull was found dead in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin on 05 January 2017. The finder, Tood Leech, discovered the gull with all of its outer primaries plucked on both wings. This is unfortunate considering the outer primaries were thought to be all white on this individual. There were no signs of injury and the cause of death is still unknown. This is the 3rd Iceland Gull to be found dead by birders on the Great Lakes this winter. 
• Two video recordings with audio of presumed Kumlien's Gulls were taken this month by Donna Martin. One of a 2nd cycle bird giving short calls with head tossing, and another of an adult giving a long call. There's an obvious raspy and screechy quality to both vocalizations. 14 January and 23 January 2017, respectively. Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

January 2017 Quiz

Age: This individual shows several plumage characters that are obvious, sub-adult, traits. The tailband, brown marginal coverts and "dirty" black primary coverts, combined with a heavily marked bill, all suggest a bird that isn't an adult (despite the largely white body). The plumage looks typical of a 3rd cycle type. Note that the broad white edges on the flight feathers (specifically the tips to the secondaries and inner primaries) are not expected on a 2nd cycle.

Identification: Few gulls in North America show a menacing pale eye such as this with pale gray upperparts, and pink legs. The bill is not dramatically large or bulbous-tipped. This species is one that anyone who has a veritable interest in gulls should know - the archetypical seagull, if you will. The January quiz bird is an American Herring Gull. Although many 3rd cycle Herrings show a p10 mirror by now, this one does not.

Here's an open wing of this individual:

THIRD CYCLE TYPE HERRING GULL. CHICAGO. FEBRUARY.

Monthly Notables December 2016

• Iceland Gull (1st cycle). Fairbanks NS County, Alaska. 01 December 2016.
• Possible nominate, glaucoides.
• Franklin's Gull (1st cycle). Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 04 December 2016.
• A first cycle bird with dark brown upperwings and nearly absent PA molt.

• Glaucous Gull (1st cycle). Washington County, Vermont. 07 December 2016.
• First record for central Vermont.
• Ivory Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 09 December 2016.
• Seen with a "clean" puncture wound on the right side of its neck.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Brown County, Wisconsin, 10 December 2016.
• Second consecutive year this species has appeared at this site.
• California Gull (adult). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 10 December 2016.
• Common Gull (adult). Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. 10 December 2016.
• Wingtip pattern close to Kamchatka but paler upperparts suggestive of a canus outlier. 
• Mew Gull (adult). Kings County, New York. 12 December 2016.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Pierce County, Washington. 17 December 2016.
• Continuing.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Volusia County, Florida. 18 December 2016.
• Thayer's Gull (1st cycle). Oswego County, New York. 21 December 2016.
• Kumlien's Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 18 December 2016.
• Continuing from November.
• California Gull (1st cycle). Yalobusha County, Mississippi. 21 December 2016.
• Sabine's Gull (1st cycle). Brevard County, Florida. 22 December 2016.
• A tattered and sickly looking bird with worn upperparts. Interestingly, the bird showed a bluish tibia similar to many Herrings on the Atlantic coast.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Polk County, Iowa. 23 December 2016.
• First county record.
• KELP GULL (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 23 December 2016.
• Undoubtedly the rarest and most unexpected gull sighting of the month, if not the entire year! First province record. Now the northern most occurrence for this species, worldwide. Relocated briefly on Christmas Day but not seen since.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Mohave County, Arizona. 24 December 2016.
• Ivory Gull (1st cycle). Delaware County, Ohio. 29 December 2016.
• 2nd State Record. A one-day wonder seen and photographed by a single observer.

Miscellaneous Notes:

1. Just south of the ABA area, a 1st cycle Audouin's Gull was found and photographed on 10 December 2016 in Trinidad. Not only is this a 1st record for the island, it's a 1st record for all of the New World. Certainly not a species that was on anyone's radar.
2. A first cycle kumlieni type was observed for a couple of days in Chatham-Kent County, Ontario before being found dead on 01 December 2016. Jermey Hatt salvaged the specimen and delivered it to the Royal Ontario Museum.  
3. A putative Laughing x Ring-billed Gull was photographed and observed by many in Michigan City, Indiana (LaPorte County) on 03 December 2016. Although notably smaller than purported hybrid individuals of this combination, the wingtip and basic plumage head pattern do match up to LAGU x RBGU. Photos here.
4. Cathy Sheeter documented via video a pair of 1st cycle Herring Gulls begging an adult for over 30 minutes. The adult gull subsequently regurgitated food for them. 10 December 2016. New Jersey. 
5. An apparent European Herring x Glaucous Gull (so-called Viking Gull) was observed in St. John's, Newfoundland on 18 December 2016 (Alvan Buckley, Bruce Mactavish). Plumage was entirely juvenile.
6. At least 3 reasonable candidates for nominate glaucoides Iceland Gull occurred this month.
• First cycle from Fairbanks NS County, Alaska. 01 December 2016. 
• Adult from Simcoe County, Ontario. 03 December 2016.
• Adult from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. 17 December 2016.

December 2016 Quiz

Age: Widely spaced bars on the lower scapulars and lesser/median coverts, along with marbled greater coverts, and rounded primary tips suggest a 2nd cycle large gull.

Identification: This dopey-eyed bird with a dark post-ocular line, bicolored bill and noticeable downward gape, should look familiar to birders from the western half of the continent.The long wings and attenuated rear, with medium gray scapulars coming in readily push the ID in favor of one species: California Gull. This month's quiz bird - a 2nd cycle CAGU - was photographed in San Mateo County, California in mid-September.

Monthly Notables November 2016

• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Pueblo County, Colorado. 01 November 2016.
• Continuing from last week of October.
• Little Gull (adult). Union County, Indiana. 03 November 2016.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Accomack County, Virginia. 05 November 2016.
• Yellow-legged Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 06 November 2016.
• Continuing.
• Thayer's Gull (adult). Nome County, Alaska. 06 November 2016.
• Late. Very rare. 13th Fall Record for Nome.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Lake County, Minnesota. 07 November 2016.
• Laughing Gull (adult type). Mahoning County, Ohio. 07 November 2016.
• Sabine's Gull (juvenile). Ketchikan Gateway County, Alaska. 09 November 2016.
• Late. First November record for Ketchikan.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Portage la Prairie Area Co, Manitoba. 10 November 2016.
• Continuing from June 2016.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Santa Clara County, California. 10 November 2016.
• Western Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 11 November 2016.
• Continuing from October 2016.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Palm Beach County, Florida. 12 November 2016.
• Ring-billed Gull (adult). Juneau County, Alaska. 13 November 2016.
• Great Black-backed Gull (adult). Pueblo County, Colorado. 18 November 2016.
• Believed to be the same returning adult for the 23rd year!
• Glaucous Gull (juvenile). Power County, Idaho. 19 November 2016.
• Vega Gull (adult). Santa Clara County, California. 22 November 2016.
• Photos of a very promising individual with all the correct field marks. No open wing.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult type). St.John's County, Newfoundland. 23 November 2016.
• Little Gull (1st cycle). Ventura County, California. 23 November 2016.
• 3rd county record. First in 27 years for Ventura County!
• Sabine's Gull (juvenile). Haines County, Alaska. 23 November 2016.
• Late.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Pierce County, Washington. 24 November 2016.
• Reoccurring at this site.
• Iceland Gull (1st cycle). Salt Lake County, Utah. 24 November 2016.
• Apparent Kumlien's Gull.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Riverside County, California. 26 November 2016.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Metro Vancouver County, British Columbia. 27 November 2016.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Butler County, Pennsylvania. 29 November 2016.
• Presumably returning to this site since 2008.

Miscellaneous Notes.

1. Reported early this month was an intriguing 1st cycle bird from Superior, Wisconsin (observed in September). Plumage entirely juvenile. Body size, bill size and structure all seemed perfect for Ring-billed Gull which it was associating with. However, the inner primaries and greater coverts were plain and uniformly dark like a Lesser Black-backed Gull (and this is what the observers initially identified it as). After some discussion on North American Gulls (NAG), the bird was thought to either be a RBGU x LBBG or a melanistic Ring-billed. There is some precendence for the hybrid theory (see photos here of a Spanish bird suspected of this mix). It's important to emphasize that this pairing has never been verified in the wild - no courting or nesting evidence. As for melanistic Ring-billed Gull, melanism in gulls usually expresses itself unevenly and tends to be more blotchy. The Superior gull was "perfectly" pigmented like a fresh juvenile LBBG. The most likely explanation is a juvenile Ring-billed packed with a high dose of melanin. Observers: Robbye Johnson, Thomas Shultz and others. 
2. A banded adult type Lesser Black-backed Gull was reported on the Mississippi River at Lock & Dam 3 in Goodhue County, Minnesota. The bird was sporting a black field-readable band on its right leg with 3 white characters. It also wore a metal band on its left leg. Unfortunately, the 3 characters on the black band can not be read clearly, but the combination matches none from North America. The only LBBG banding program using a similar field-readable is from the UK. Observer: Alex Franzen.
3. Continuing the trend of increasing reports, putative Herring x Lesser Black-backeds were reported from several regions this month (Michigan, New York, several from New Foundland and Florida). All reports/photos represent adult birds.
4. A very interesting adult gull with Taimyr/Mongolian-like attributes was photographed in Alameda County, California on 10 November 2016. The bird does not resemble any taxon or putative hybrid that regularly occurs in North America (photos here). Observer: Noah Arthur.

November 2016 Quiz

Age: Pointed primaries, patterned wing coverts and some apparent juvenile scapulars assist in aging this gull as a 1st cycle individual. Most of the lower scapulars are juvenile (=1st basic), but the faint gray upper scapulars are non-juvenile (=formative or 1st alternate).

Identification: The uniform paleness to this bird suggests a large 4-year white-winger. Our white-wingers are Glaucous, Glaucous-winged, Thayer's and Iceland Gull. The mostly black bill pattern would be inconsistent with Glaucous Gull, especially one that has already renewed some scapulars. The primaries are too pale for a Thayer's Gull. This leaves us with Glaucous-winged and Iceland Gull.

A few features should immediately jump out at the observer as pro Glaucous-winged: This is a bulgy gull with a short wing projection and a long/strong bill. Iceland Gulls tends to show more petite bills, longer wings, and proportionally larger eyes placed lower on the face.

This month's quiz bird was identified as a 1st cycle Glaucous-winged Gull. This age group regularly shows variable scapular molt early in its hatch year. The molt can be absent to extensive. The bill pattern also varies from all-dark to paling around the base. Interestingly, some hatch year Glaucous-winged Gulls show this "mismatched" whitish head against a darker body. Whether this is due to bleaching, an early molt restricted to the head/neck, or just natural variation isn't clear.

January. San Mateo County, California.

Monthly Notables October 2016

• Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle type). Essex County, Ontario. 04 October 2016.
• Continuing since at least July!
• California Gull (2nd cycle). New Haven County, Connecticut. 04 October 2016.
• Great Black-backed Gull (juvenile). Galveston County, Texas. 07 October 2016.
• Only the second time this species has been recorded in Texas in October.
• Chandeleur Gull (adult). Mobile County, Alabama. 08 October 2016.
• Tending toward Kelp. Associating with Herrings on Pelican Island.
• Chandeleur Gull (adult). LaPorte County, Indiana. 09 October 2016.
• Reoccurring southern Lake Michigan hybrid.
• Mew Gull (1st cycle). Nome County, Alaska. 09 October 2016.
• Apparent Kamchatka Gull in Gambell.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (2nd cycle type). Johnson County, Iowa. 10 October 2016.
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Pierce County, Washington. 12 October 2016.
• Continuing. This individual now a regular in the Gog Le-Hi-Te Wetlands area.
• Iceland Gull (adult). Salt Lake County, Utah. 13 October 2016.
• Kumlien's. First October record and earliest Fall arrival for Utah. Previous to this the earliest arrival was 04 November 2008.
• Black-headed Gull (presumed adult type). Marion County, Kansas. 15 October 2016.
• Photos of a red-billed bird were very promising but bird was not relocated.
• California Gull (3rd cycle type). Rock Island County, Illinois. 18 October 2016. 
• Recorded on the Mississippi River, moving between Illinois and Iowa.
• Yellow-legged Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 21 October 2016.
• The only location in all of North America where the species is expected.
• Western Gull (2nd cycle). Morgan County, Colorado. 21 October 2016
• Banded. Likely the same individual first found in Washington County in June. 
• Little Gull (1st cycle). Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. 22 October 2016.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Clark County, Nevada. 23 October 2016.
• Less than 10 records for the entire state.
• California Gull (adult). LaPorte County, Indiana. 24 October 2016.
• In the area since late August.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Ralls County, Missouri. 26 October 2016.
• Little Gull (adult). Lake County, Indiana. 29 October 2016.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Cook County, Illinois. 30 October 2016.

Miscellaneous Notes

1. Lesser Black-backed numbers begin to build in coastal Florida in October. On 17 October 2016, Michael Brothers observed F:003 in Volusia County, FL. This individual, banded on 20 March 2015 in the same county, is more evidence that Florida's growing LBBG population exhibits some winter site fidelity.
2. Putative Chandeleur Gulls (Kelp x Herring hybrids) have not vanished from the earth. October has become the month that these hybrids are reported with more frequency, especially on the Gulf Coast. Two were recorded this month (Indiana and Alabama) with a third candidate in Texas (Galveston County; 12 Oct 2016). Note that roughly 30 hybrid types were found back on the islands in the breeding season of 2015. I do wonder why more pure Kelp Gulls are not being reported in the ABA area. Perhaps some are being overlooked as large Lesser Black-backs, or, most are programmed to "winter" south of the equator.