Subject: Gulls, Gulls, Gulls
Date: Sep 22 12:09:39 2000
From: Lynn & Carol Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Hi Tweets:
This is Carol Schulz. Charlie Wright (Birdking 88) just sent me a URL to
view the Gull ID Website. The general site is
http://geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/6181/gulls.htm The author is Steve
Hampton shampton at ospr.dfg.ca.gov I found it was easist to print out the
pages in landscape format.
The URL that Charlie wanted me especially to see was
http:/geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy//6181/thay2.htm That's the pages
that deal w/ Hybrid vs. Thayer's Gull. The pictures are of First year
Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrid vs. Thayer's Gull. I had to laugh at
one major caveat in the article which stated, "These birds are easy to
distinguish: Many others are more intermediate." Yes! My point exactly!
;-)
Even on the main gull page there is a picture which looks like a jigsaw
puzzle. Under it is a caption. The middle gull is referred to as a "first
year probable hybrid". Cool. I'm not the only one w/ gull problems.
Getting off the subject a bit, Charlie and I had a great time at the WOS
conference last weekend at Pt. Angeles. We had an 82 species day on Friday
going to the conference as we worked our way north from Tacoma. This of
course featured some gulls. Many of our waterbird species were seen in the
Dungeness area. And the conference was very good. We learned a lot.
Our most exciting afternoon was coming home on the Edmonds-Kingston ferry
Sunday after the conference about 5PM. We had been told to go home that way
because Parasitic Jaegers had been seen there on Friday. At 5PM, we had
quite a show. We viewed Parasitic Jaegers attacking Common Terns as we
waited at Kingston. Brian Bell, and Michael Hobbs showed up and Michael set
up a scope. The setting sun was shining on the few Jaegers sitting on the
water and flying amongst the Common Terns. What a show. Then the birds
flew out to the middle, and Charlie and I saw some more action out in the
middle as we crossed on the ferry. On the Edmonds side, we parked at the
little park, and saw Heermann's Gulls, looking a lot like the Parasitic
Jaegers chasing the Terns. But they flew slower and just seemed to be
chasing the birds; not actually attacking like the Jaegers did. There were
also Bonaparte's Gulls and Red-necked Phalaropes in the water. We watched
until the sun set.
I understand that as the Bonaparte's Gulls and Common Terns migrate, they
are followed by the Parasitic Jaegers and Heermann's Gulls into the South
Puget Sound. I was out there yesterday viewing from Three-Tree Point in
Burien, DesMoines Marina, Salt-Water St. Park in DesMoines, and Dumas Bay in
Federal Way. So far, no Parasitic Jaegers. There were about 150
Bonaparte's Gulls at Dumas Bay in the afternoon.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines