I stopped by Perry Creek to check out the remaining gulls on my way home
from work this afternoon. There are not nearly as many birds here as there
were at the beginning of the month, only a few hundred remain and they are
not as consistent as they had been. The vast majority of birds were
glaucous-winged gulls and glaucous-winged x Westerns but other than that not
much variety. However there was one bird that was quite interesting. It
was a dark mantled adult gull on the mud flats on the bay side of Madrona
Beach Road. Unfortunately I was at the site at about 4:40 this afternoon,
in fading light. The bird looked to be one or two shades darker than our
typical Westerns. It appeared very clean overall except for the head and
neck which was densely streaked with brown. The neck and most of the head
streaking was fairly crisp, not too smudgy. There was a dark area around
the eye, with a bit of a crescent in front of the eye. I could not tell the
eye color. The bill was fairly long and narrow with a straight culman and
little depth at the gonys. (The bill did not seem near as heavy/deep as
typical Westerns or Glaucous wings). It was a pale yellow color. The legs
however looked quite pale, and kind of washed out pink. The white trailing
edge to the secondaries seemed rather wide to me. Unfortunately I did not
get a decent look at the primaries in flight. It flew directly away low,
out into the bay and around the corner. The folded wing showed black
primaries with distinct white mirrors. Several of the features looked good
for Slaty-backed but given the viewing conditions and inability to get good
looks at either side of the primaries in flight, I wouldn't swear to it.
The leg color bothers me also. Nevertheless, for those in the area, or
heading out to the coast, it might be worth while to stop by and search. If
anyone re-finds this bird, let me know what you think. I'll probably try to
check out the site again tomorrow afternoon. By the way, the area is just
off of Highway 101 a few miles north of Olympia. Exit at Mud Bay or 2nd
ave, turn right at the top of the off ramp, then left just after the on ramp
and follow the frontage road (Madrona Beach Road). There is a small bridge
over Perry Creek less than 1/2 mile or so from the overpass/ off ramp. This
late in the (salmon spawning) season the gulls can be very hit or miss here,
sometimes lots, sometimes none. Good Luck
Bill Shelmerdine, Olympia
georn1 at hotmail.com

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