Hi all,

Yes, I meant to hit "Nov. 27" and hit "Nov. 17" instead and failed to
catch the error.

Gene.

On Tue, 29 Nov 1994, McCloskey, Lawrence R wrote:

> I "think" there is some confusion about the Ross' Gull sighting
> dates. The Seattle RBA transcript has it being first seen the 17th and
> 18th, which is surely in error. My understanding is that Phil Bartley
> first saw the bird just this past Sunday, 27 November. A recent
> transcript from Scott Ray has it being seen on the 30th--which is
> tomorrow.
> Those of us who have seen it Monday (the 28th) and again today (the
> 29th), are hoping it stays around for awhile so the rest of the birding
> fraternity can experience this ornithological thrill. For the sake of
> those whose work commitments prevent them from trying right away, please,
> if you do see it, post the news for the sake of the latecomers as they
> try to decide whether to try or not.
> Let me say it has been pretty predictable, maybe almost "too easy."
> The observations of some of us are that the bird tends to loaf with the
> Bonapartes down stream, but periodically flies back up to the dam
> (usually on the fish ladder gizmo side) and takes small fish. It
> sometimes simply sets down on the water after a feeding bout and floats
> back down river to the bar. If you get impatient at the fish ladder
> observation tower, drive down to the "natural area" below the dam and
> head through it to the river's edge where you can spot the loafing gulls
> on a small exposed bar at the river's edge (Oregon side). Check out the
> great habitat of the natural area too; who knows, maybe we will
> experience the "Patagonia effect" here!
> In a phone conversation with Phil Bartley this evening, we got to
> musing about the previous records for Ross' Gull. All I had quick access
> to was Roberson's wonderful but now dated book (Rare Birds of the West
> Coast) and Gilligan et al.'s Birds of Oregon. Roberson has listed one
> sighting at the south end of Vancouver Island many years ago, and
> Gilligan et al. have listed just the Oregon sighting of Feb 18 to Mar 1,
> 1987. Wasn't there another sighting in Oregon more recently than that,
> does anyone know? Since the McNary dam [note the spelling] bird does
> indeed fly from one shore of the river to the other, is this Washington
> state's first record?
> Larry McCloskey {mcclla at wwc.edu}
>
>