Subject: Glaucous Gull and More at Dungeness
Date: Aug 9 21:50:17 2004
From: Hans de Grys - degrys at verizon.net


Hi Tweets,

Kristi and I joined the flocks of birders heading over to the Olympic
Peninsula yesterday. We had a great day, seeing many of the highlights
mentioned by others. We observed the Bar-tailed Godwit at a distance at
first, but we eventually were able to see it at close range and study it.
Based on Dennis Paulson's careful description in his Shorebirds book, we
thought that this individual was a probably a breeding male in the first
stages of molt. The light color on the basal end of the bill was already
extending 30-40% down the length of the bill (not restricted to one-fifth of
the bill as mentioned by Dennis in breeding adults). The deep reddish
breast and upper belly were already showing small light buff patches of
winter plumage, and we thought we saw some molted coverts on the wings. The
dark streaking on the sides of the upper breast and the distinctive
supercilium were also noted. It is a beautiful specimen. The Godwit tends
to move around a bit between the Oyster House and the Three Crabs, so be
patient and check back.

We had 16 other species of shorebirds at Dungeness without trying too hard,
and a bonus bird that I haven't seen reported yet on Tweeters. Amidst the
hundreds of gulls loafing on the mudflats and sandbars, we picked out a
young Glaucous Gull. It stood out as being extremely pale, almost
luminously white in the sunshine. It was slightly bigger than the nearby
Glaucous-wings, and kind of scruffy looking. The mantle and head were
whitish, with some light brown streaking. The primaries were white (and
quite worn), and we observed the distinctive large bi-colored bill. The
scapulars were a sort of smudgy grayish-brown - definitely a bit grayer than
shown in Sibley. The tip of the bill appeared to be all-dark, and the eye
was black, making us think that this is a first-summer bird.

Keep your eyes open, there are a lot of interesting birds out there these
days!


Hans


Hans de Grys
Bothell, WA
degrys at verizon.net