I spent most of the day in Clarkston, WA looking for the recently
reported rare gulls. In addition to the many HERRING, CALIFORNIA, and
RING-BILLED GULLS, I was able to find 5 additional gull species for a total
of 8 for the day.
From about 9 AM to 3 PM I traveled back and forth between Swallows Park
and the area of the Snake River that is west of Clarkston near the many
grain-loading terminals. During the late morning I was able to find an adult
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, a first-year THAYER'S GULL, and a first-year MEW GULL
at Swallows Park. A EURASIAN WIGEON was also in the park. At about 2 PM I
finally found both the adult ICELAND GULL and the subadult LESSER
BLACK-BACKED GULL west of Clarkston on the river. They were actually only
about 20 feet apart from one another when I found them!
Other interesting birds seen on the day included 2 SNOW GEESE and 75
TUNDRA SWANS at the Genesee sewage pond, a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on Hwy 95
between Moscow and Genesee, a couple of small flocks of VIOLET-GREEN
SWALLOWS along the Snake River, and 200 TUNDRA SWANS, 4 GREATER SCAUP, and 2
SPOTTED TOWHEES at Mann Lake.

Joe Lipar
Pullman, WA
jlipar at wsu.edu