Slaty-Backed Gull? Sounds almost right for one.

Chris Duke
Bellingham, WA
dukec at cc.wwu.edu


> 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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