Just a note on terminology. Philip Pickering writes of this 2nd winter
gull: "Perhaps the bird will stick around long enough to molt further into
3rd-summer plumage, which should be quite telling."

In the standard molt terminology for gulls, the 2nd winter plumage is
followed by the 2nd summer plumage (because in its first summer a gull is in
juvenal/juvenile plumage). This gull will have to stick around until spring
of 2005 to betray its 3rd summer plumage.

Happy gulling, Bob



Bob Sundstrom
ixoreus at scattercreek.com
Tenino, WA