I did a brief and frustrating birding trip on Sunday afternoon. Brief
because there wasn't much time and frustrating because the light was poor
and I couldn't ID much. Hence the reason I need help.

There was an interesting gull in Kirk Pond. The coloring was so different
from the other gulls it really stood out. It was a large gull with VERY
black tips on the wings & Tail. The back and wings appeared to be stark
white. I thought at first it was a Glacous winged, but could see no trace
of gray on the wings. Because it was so white, the black really stood out.
The head and breat were tanish with very dark eyes and yellow beak. It was
floating so I wasn't able to note the leg color.

Any ideas?

I also saw and wasn't able to ID positively a pair of grebes. The coloring
strongly resembled the breeding plumage of the Horned Grebe without the
fancy facial markings. Do Pied-billed grebes become very dark in winter?

TIA,

Peggi



Peggi Rodgers
Oregon Research Institute
Eugene, OR
peggir at ori.org
prodgers at efn.org
"A bird does not sing because it has an
answer, It sings because it has a song"