Subject: Ocean Shores/ Slaty-backed Gull
Date: Mar 4 21:47:17 1996
From: Bill and Nancy LaFramboise - wlafra at oneworld.owt.com


We spent Saturday at Ocean Shores and Sunday at the area surrounding the
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

Our most unexpected sighting was a Prairie Falcon at the Ocean Shores Marina
on Saturday. We were looking for the recently sighted Palm Warblers near
the Interpretive Center. The falcon was flying from Damon Point to the
north approximately 50 yards at closest approach to the west of us. The
initial naked-eye observation was that it was a falcon based on wing profile
and flight behavior. The black axillaries and underwing coverts contrasting
with the pale underparts and the thin mustache mark clinched it as a Prairie
Falcon. (Note: the Gray's Harbor check list indicates that this bird has
been seen less than 5 times in that county.) We did not see the Palm Warblers.

We spent a couple of hours in the rain Sunday morning looking in all the
wrong places for the Slaty-backed Gull. Thanks to Russell's help, we
finally got to see it in the afternoon.

A couple of additional comments to add to Russell's post from yesterday. To
us, the mantle appeared to be darker than any of the WEGU/ GWGU x WEGU
hybrids that we saw during the weekend. We can't comment on whether this
bird is lighter or darker than other slaty-backs, since this our first. We
got good looks at the upper and lower wing. It had the white bar separating
the black tipped primaries from the dark gray upper wing, less extensive
black area on outer primaries than WEGU, and gray on the underside of the
outer primaries, not the extensive black area typical of WEGU. Because of
distance, we could not judge the color of the orbital ring.

When looking for this bird, the two characteristics that catch your eye are
its darker upper parts and the dark patch around its eye. Russell's analogy
that it looked like it had a "black eye" from being punched is appropriate.

Norm Schut told us that the Dickcissel has not been seen since 2/25.

Other birds that we saw during the weekend:

Common and Red-throated Loons
Western and Horned Grebes
All 3 Cormorants
Great Blue Heron
Canada and Greater White-fronted Goose (the latter at the Ocean Shores Golf
Course (from the police station)
Mallard, Gadwall, Am Wigeon, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler
Canvasback, both Scaup, three Scoters, Harlequin, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Back-bellied Plover, Killdeer
Black Turnstone, Surfbird,
2 Rock Sandpipers (at the end of the Jetty)
Sanderling, Dunlin
Ring-billed, California, Glaucous (at Nisqually)
Mew, Thayer's, Western, and Glaucous-winged Gulls
Albino Mew (at Nisqually)
Bald Eagle, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed Hawks
Violet-green Swallow
N. Flicker
Crow (species), Steller's Jay
Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bewick's Wren (at Nisqually)
Golden-crowned Kinglet
A. Robin, Varied Thrush
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song, White-crowned, Golden-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
Redwing and Brewer's Blackbird



Bill and Nancy LaFramboise
Richland, WA
wlafra at oneworld.owt.com