At 04:49 PM 3/24/99 -0800, Mike Patterson wrote:
>This week's ugly gull has received plenty of commentary and it's
>nice to have so much response. Comments are now beginning to lean
>toward Glaucous or GlaucousxGlaucous-winged hybrid.
>
>http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/ugly_gull.html

I photographed a similar bird in California about
two weeks ago. It's not been scanned thus far, don't
know when I'll have time to put it up on the web.

Anyway, the gull I photographed was, as I say, similar
but the markings were less richly brown. They were a
very pale, more grayish-brown color. The ugly gull
looks more like coffee au lait in comparison.

I've been calling mine a glaucous, it was so pale
I couldn't imagine it being a cross with anything
else, nor did it look particularly worn. Theories
about fading are interesting - the raptors I band
in fall have faded retained feathers that contrast
with new feathers quite strongly. However, the
gull I photographed had pale markings in areas
that don't really get all that much sunshine. Unless,
being a california gull, it lolls around with shades
in a lounge chair :)



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net