Subject: WHITE GULL ALBINO?
Date: Nov 20 20:05:22 1999
From: Ruth Sullivan - godwit at worldnet.att.net


Hello Tweeters,
This report is from yesterday the 19th birding in the Samish Flats trying
to relocate the Eurasian Kestrel which was posted on to tweeters on
Thursday evening.My friend Vicki Biltz din't see this bird yet. After
searcing for fife hours trying the Loop descibed so many times we ask a
farmer who lives on Chuckanut drive where the new blue barns are, if we
could go on to his property to enter the Dike where we had the Kestrel in
earlier days. We hiked the whole Dike maybe 5 miles with no result only had
two American Kestrel, Marsh Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks.There where other
birders including a birder from Oregon, but no one found this bird on
friday.

We was making our last loop one time more when we came from D"Arcy going
back to Chukanut when all the sudden i stopped the car seeing an all white
midium Gull circeling over the fields in a flocck of other Gulls. This Gull
was realy breathaking looking and looked rare because he was all whie and
had a pretty smal head. We been watching this Gull in the3 field for about
fife minutes when there settled down in to the field not to far away. Even
standing with about 50 other gulls aroud he stood out.As we watched i
discovert an all white Gull no gray ore smutch on the body . but he had
black wingtips with 4 white mirrors on the outer wings. The Gull was smaler
than most other Gulls around him, a smal rounded head dark eye midium
light yellow bill ,and Pink feet.The body looked Thayers or Iceland Gull.
This Gull was absolutely stunnig looking, but where comes the all black
Wingtips from?
Some one in the field today says there was an Albino all white California
Gull sighted in the Samish Flats latley. So when i looked today in my Gull
Book by P.J. Grant he writes of Abinism: Rare cases of all -white
albinistic gulls are therefore usually identifiable and ageable by there
normal bare parts coloration as well as structure and size.And it will
continue, found under " Colour Abnormalities "
So if this bird have pink legs it could not be a California Gull rather
than a Thayers all white with black wingtips Gull.Would be intersting to
heare what other birders think of this Gull.I would mention that this is
not the same Gull described by Scott Downes.


Ruth Sullivan
Tacoma
godwit at worldnet.att.net