Hi Tweets,

Dennis Paulson writes:

>The big
>dark gull with the big pale bill at Gog-le-hi-te is a Western Gull, in my
>humble opinion. Is that the sound of an eraser I hear?

It ain't no Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus, fershure, but there's
still something kind of odd about that gull. If it's a Western Gull L.
occidentalis it doesn't look like a typical individual of the northern
'occidentalis' race with that honkin' great bill. Is it a southern 'wymani'
individual or, more likely, an intergrade? The mantle color in the first two
phots looks pretty dark.

The bill is atypical for an adult Western in that there's virtually no
gonys, little distal swelling, and the red gonydeal target spot just sorta
spreads in an ill-defined oval out along the distal part of the keel instead
of forming a well-defined rounder spot. If this bird's other than a Western
Gull, the bill would be the thing to make me wonder what else it could be.
Leg color eliminates Kelp Gull L. dominicanus, and I'd think the dark eye
would take care of any possibility of an outre Asian or even European
dark-mantled Herring Gull, though apparently eye color is variable on some
of the Asian species/subspecies.

So what's with the head-markings? If that's a 'classic' Western of either
race, it shouldn't have any. But it's an odd pattern for Basic
smudging/clouding/streaking on a Western or Glaucous-winged Gull L.
glaucescens, concentrating *below* the eye like that in a line, of all
things. Well, at the risk of sounding rude, look a little lower: note that
there's smudging on the breast, a very odd place for it on an adult
(unmarked white tail) Western. Betcha it's old oil, or the bird smushed into
something at the dump.

The primaries look pretty typical for Western, P10 having that tiny
transverse black strip across the tip, and really restricted white subapical
spots on P5-7.

Another interesting couple of birds in that crowd atop the roof I wouldn't
have minded getting another look at: check out the *big* gull (head only)
with the brown auricular patch and the looonng sloping forehead, four birds
to the left of the dark-mantled bird. Then another two to the left what
looks like quite a *small* Herring Gull (if leg color on my sainted old
browser can be trusted).

Interesting photographs. Thans, Ruth and Dennis!

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)