I don't see a response yet from the Brewster area birders, but I
believe they regularly (?) find Thayer's Gulls below Chief Joseph Dam
in the fall.

Most (all?) of the records for Thayer's Gulls in the Wenatchee area
are from an area within a couple miles of the confluence of the
Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers during November and December.
If that's the case, these October birds might be early for eastern
Washington, but considering the Arctic blasts that have moved south
into the northern plains the past couple weeks, not surprising?

--Jerry <tangren at crcwnet.com>
Wenatchee WA

>The "Birdking" writes:
>
>Hello Andy. I had an adult alternate Thayer's Gull at the mouth of the
>Okanagon River near the town of Brewster last week. The bird flew by rather
>quickly, but I saw all the field marks. I was wondering how regular they are
>east of the cascades... Thanks.
>
>I respond:
>
>Charlie,
>
>This species is rare in the interior in most parts of North America, so any
>record is of interest. As far as I know, there is but one prior record from
>Okanogan County, WA ; I had one adult in April. They are rare, but regular
>on the large lakes in the Okanagan Valley of southern BC.
>
>Andy Stepniewski
>
>As a postscript, I believe field identification of a fly-by Thayer's Gull is
>a challenging call, even by those with extensive prior experience with this
>species.
>Wapato WA
>steppie at nwinfo.net