Good Morning Tweets

I stopped by Renton yesterday afternoon (Jan 25th). I got to the mouth
of the Cedar River about 3 pm and scanned the gull flock as best I could
since the gates to get out to the boathouse were locked. No good
candidates for Great Black-backed (GBBG), Slaty-backed or Glaucous Gull.
A good number of gulls could be seen over at Coulon Park so I went
around. I scanned the gulls both from the Duck Island area and then up
along the logboom. Lots of gulls, mostly Glaucous-winged and G-w/Western
hybrids. Finally I went back to the river mouth, arriving about 4:05.
There were a number of birders there looking at the gulls, so I went to
top of the berm between the two parking areas. A couple of the birders
came up and we traded information, and while we were talking I was
scanning the gulls - many more present than earlier. One of the birders
mentioned that he thought they might have had the GBBG about a half hour
before on the edge of the runway, but he wasn't certain as he was going
from the description on Tweeters.

At 4:07 pm I spotted the GBBG out on the bar. It was standing slightly
away from a group of other gulls and giving us a profile view so we
could see the white head and breast (with the very slight streaking
along the sides of the breast), the long two-toned, pink and black bill,
the checkering on the back, and for a brief instant the banding on the
tail. While it was standing, a Ring-billed Gull walked by and looked
like a midget in comparison. A Glaucou-winged was fairly nearby giving
another nice comparison. The GBBG was definitely the largest bird out
there. I was able to point the bird out to the other birders there and
get their scopes on it. While we were watching the GBBG walked to the
west a bit, did some preening and then turned so it was facing us. Gave
us another look at the size. At 4:20 pm all the gulls lifted off the bar
and we lost the GBBG is the swirling mass - a ways to the north we could
see the cause, a Bald Eagle cruising past. As in the past in the late
afternoon when the group lifts off most of the gulls circled around and
then went off betweent the Boeing buildings. Almost none of the gulls
returned to the bar.

No signs of Slaty-backed or Glaucous Gull among the group.

Good Birding

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com