Hi all, today I just had to take advantage of the sunshine in Olympia. I
headed out to Nisqually NWR just to spend some time outdoors and ended up in
a bit of a gull quandry. I know it sounds crazy but I may have happened
upon the asian race of Mew Gull (Larus 'canus' kamchatkensis). Here's a
brief description of the bird, and I hope someone can relocate it and get a
photo. The bird was seen in the pond area (as headed to McCallister Creek)
amongst the many Ring-Billed Gulls and Mews. The sun was quite bright
behind me, and so it was washing out most of the mantle colors on the gulls.
The Mews seemed only slightly darker than the R/Bills and then I found one
adult winter Mew which had a pale iris. I didn't have any field guide, and
only vaguely remembered reading kamchatkas had a pale iris. A passerby's
Sibley was no help at all (dang easterners!).

The bird fit all the field marks for Mew gull: Wider windows noticed on
primary from below (on P10 and 9), a larger white area on the tertials and a
white crescent on the scapular edge, the head was more heavily streaked on
top and at the rear of the auriculars especially, also had a thinner bill.
The only problem was the pale iris! Also had dark smudging around the
orbital feathers...more than an American Mew?

The bill, when seen in direct sunlight, had a very pale black subterminal
band (ala R/Bill). This was not really very noticeable however. Also the
bill was paler than the nearby R/Bills.

Can those resident gull experts weigh in on this bird? I can add more
description later if there are any questions. The bird was last seen flying
in the direction of McCallister Creek.

ASLO PRESENT:
2 Bald Eagle
12 Red-Tail Hawks
7 Northern Harriers
1 Peregrine Falcon
5 AMERICAN PIPITS
7 Western Meadowlarks

Jason Paulios
JPaulios at hotmail.com
Olympia, WA


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