Merrylynn,

Read your "Iceland Gull" description with interest but I don't see
anything in the description to rule out Thayer's? Were the primaries
essentially white/ivory, distinctly paler than the rest of the wing? I
would expect that if it were a Kumlien's or nominate Iceland Gull that
would be a conspicuous feature.

Gene Hunn.

On Wed, 11 Jan 1995, DENNY, MERRYLYNN wrote:

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> Hi Mike: We made two passes at the river near Lewiston and saw it the
> second time around noon. The gull was hanging around with several
> herring
> gulls and indeed chased one (seeking to rob it?) as we watched. I
> suspect
> it forages in the morning and rests in late morning. It was first seen
> two
> weeks ago by Dan Svingen resting on the large gravel bar across from the
> weigh station on Rte 12 one mile east of Lewiston. It was also seen by
> Carol Van de Voorde and Winnie Hepburn on the ice near the grain
> terminals
> across the river from the big levee pond in Lewiston resting near a very
> large duck population. We saw it on the shore on the Clarkston side of
> the
> Snake just where the Snake joins the Clearwater. The area can be scanned
>
> from the notheast corner of the Costco parking lot and also from an
> access
> road below that runs along the Snake. The latter area might be better
> for a
> photo. The bird was just out of range for our camera and obviously a
> photo
> would be valuable.
>
> We saw the gull flying, standing and sleeping. It is finely
> streaked
> giving it a uniform light beige appearance. It appeared slightly smaller
>
> than the Herring Gulls that were near it, had darkish pink legs, had the
> "gentle" appearance mentioned by Grant with a smoothly rounded head, had
> an
> all dark bill that appeared to blend to a dark green at the base, had a
> relatively short bill (about .45 *the head size), and when standing had
> wing
> tips that clearly extended beyond the tail. The eye appeared dark.
>
> Good luck! John
>
>