Skip Russel wrote:
.......... Also Vegae race Herring Gulls, an Iceland
> Gull or two (adult Kumlein's), and even a possible first year Lesser
> Black-backed Gull. (Most or all of the above birds were well
> photographed, incidently.) This whole amazing collection seemed to be
> staging during the month between Feb 12 and mid March, as all were present
> among the hoards of Glaucous-winged Gulls during that time. This year,
> the unusual gulls are back to background (i.e. near zero) numbers. A
> fistfull of Glaucous Gulls have been seen, but nothing like what we had a
> year ago.
>
How dark are Vega Herring Gulls? We have been looking quite hard for them
here, but are not certain exactly what they look like. Are there marks,
other than mantle colour, that sets these apart from _smithsonianus_
Herring Gulls?

If the Lesser Black-backed was photographed it should not be too difficult
to identify, would this be the first record for Oregon?

Al Jaramillo
jaramill at sfu.ca
Vancouver, B.C.