Tweets,

You may have noticed from my post last week on our trip to Ft. Flagler State
Park that no gulls were listed. Sad to say there were 10 of us and no one
could (would?) hazard a guess on the "grey gulls" we saw. Lots of action but
no idea. We all knew Ring Billed & Heermann's Gulls but there is a lot more
out there that are not so easy to ID. Well I got out Peterson's Guide to
Western Birds and got a copy of Peter Harrison's Seabirds, An Identification
Guide, studied all week and still didn't have a clue. Went down to Nisqually
Friday and didn't see any gulls that weren't at 500 feet and moving fast.
Good news is the rain last week filled up the "duck pond" areas on the walk
toward McAllister Creek and lots of Mallards, Green-winged Teal, American
Wigeon, Northern Shovlers and Pintails, as well as Canada Geese are in.

Didn't see any Short-eared Owls, but they should be there soon. At Luhr
Beach, saw lots of Wigeon, all 3 scoters, female hooded merganzers, and a
Glaucous-winged Gull that posed on the dock railing for me.

Today, 11/2/97, I went to Titlow Park, hoping to get a chance to study gulls
as well as other water birds. Saw Double-crested Cormorants, Horned Grebes
and American Wigeon on the sound. Lots of SCUBA Divers kept things well off
shore. On the 2 ponds we had mallards, wigeon, coot, bufflehead and a
cinnamon teal as well as some gulls. My guess was Glaucous-winged and Mew
gulls.

As we walked by the swimming pool I got a chance to do some serious gull
comparison. At first blush there were 10 or 15 Glaucous-winged Gulls, stocky,
grey on grey, heavy billed birds with a red spot on the lower bill. As I
looked closer I saw a couple of birds with darker wing tips and a red and
black spot on the bill. California Gulls? I thought so. I also noticed a
smaller gull in the mix. Again, Darker wing tips, with a smaller, unmaked
bill. Much slimmer then the others, could be a Mew Gull. Finally, I noticed a
bird in the back of the flock that was much darker on the back with darker
yet wing tips. Perhaps a Western Gulls. No yellow eye. As I said all the
birds were swimming in the fenced in pool so I could study them on the water
but couldn't see their legs or any particular behavior that might have helped
with the ID.

Do I really want to do this? Am I nuts or what? Are gulls really that
important? Yeah, I guess they are.

Phil Kelley
Lacey, WA
scrbjay at aol.com