Hi Tweeters,

On July 28, Al Jaramillo says:

> Yesterday I saw a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs here in Half Moon Bay,
>San Mateo Co, California. I looked up the early juvenile date in Dennis's
>book and this one beats it by one day. Given that I am quite a bit further
>south, it seems to be a pretty early record. Have others been seeing
>juvenile yellowlegs already? BTW, the Lesser Yellowlegs is a relatively
>uncommon shorebird here.

In Vancouver BC, Deborah Kerr & Jim Morrison found couple of juv LEYE in the
Jericho Ponds yesterday the 27th, and I saw a pair on Spanish Banks earlier
in the morning, perhaps these are the same two birds, as a bunch of kids
swept the foreshore pretty clean and a *ton* of birds flew to the east.
Vancouver BC average juv arrival of LEYE is July 25. I wonder sometimes if
they don't arrive from the west as a wave more or less simultaneously along
the coast.

> As well, the first juvenile CAlifornia gulls have arrived here. The
>three birds I saw had completely black bills, not the typical bicolored bill
>of young Californias. I have noticed this in Vancouver as well. It appears
>that the youngest juveniles have dark bills, that quickly become pale on the
>base. Michael Price has commented that he has observed this as well.
>However, it does not appear to be widely known. Does this only happen on
>some individuals, or is it a general rule?

Haven't seen any juv CAGU here yet and none reported. Sure will be watching
for that dark bill.

Cheers,

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca









> As well, the first juvenile CAlifornia gulls have arrived here. The
>three birds I saw had completely black bills, not the typical bicolored bill
>of young Californias. I have noticed this in Vancouver as well. It appears
>that the youngest juveniles have dark bills, that quickly become pale on the
>base. Michael Price has commented that he has observed this as well.
>However, it does not appear to be widely known. Does this only happen on
>some individuals, or is it a general rule?
>
>cheers,
>Alvaro Jaramillo
>Half Moon Bay, CA
>
>alvaro at quake.net
>
>