No, it was definitely a gull. Its head was round and snowy white. Thanks
however for the suggestion. I told the person who suggested the Hermann's
that its body was too light for that. Maybe it will just be a mystery.

Regarding the peregrine, it could very well have been a prairie falcon. It
seemed a little too dark but it really was more prairie terrain. I saw it
coming down into the canyon of Lower Crab Creek.

Thanks again,
Rahne
Federal Way
"Time is just the stream I go a'fishin' in."

Henry David Thoreau

----- Original Message -----
From: Ruth Taylor <rutht at seanet.com>
To: Rahne Kirkham <rahne at mindspring.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 1999 7:44 PM
Subject: Re: mystery birds


> At 07:24 PM 6/19/99 -0700, you wrote:
> >On my recent Eastern Washington trip, I saw two birds that confused me.
> >The other mystery bird I saw was a gull beside the Columbia south of
Vantage
> >and on the east side of the river. It's mantle was darkish grey but not
as
> >dark as pictures of Western Gulls. The rest of it was extremely pure
white
> >so I don't think it was some kind of juvenile. Its beak was red with a
black
> >spot on it and its legs were also red. Western (with a black spot?)?
> >Ring-billed (but with red legs?)?
>
> Rahne, could the gull possibly have been a Forster's Tern? Red beak &
legs
> sound like it, and they do have variable amounts of black on the beak,
> depending on age and season. They do breed in Eastern Washington. I know
> someone mentioned a possible Heerman's Gull; that would be very rare east
of
> the mountains. They breed on the coast of Baha and, I believe, have just
> started breeding in extreme southern California. They do a northerly
> post-breeding dispersal, like Brown Pelicans, and come up the coast and
into
> the Straits in late summer and fall.
> I was curious about where you saw the peregrine. You'd be more likely to
> see a Prairie Falcon over there, though I have heard that there was an
eyrie
> on the Columbia south of Vantage a couple of years ago.
>
> Ruth Taylor
> Seattle
>
>