Hello All:
Ran around most of today looking at various gull spots. Between Gog-le-hi-ti
and the Puyallup River, there were perhaps 450 Thayer's Gulls, exclusively
adults and older subadults. At least five of these birds had non-black
primaries with somewhat reduced markings, but were otherwise identical to
Thayer's. These birds seem to be frequently encountered in adult-dominated
flocks of Thayer's in the Northwest and, I think, don't point to definite
Icelandic lineage. The Gog also yielded four Western Gulls, 20 Herring, and
many GWGU's as well as some hybrids.

En route to Renton, an adult Rough-legged Hawk was seen near Kent at the
Toysmith field, and later across the freeway west of the West Valley Hwy.
This bird has been in the area since November.

Arrived at Renton about 2PM and many gulls were already lined up along the
booms at Coulon Park. By 4:30, large numbers of gulls were streaming out
from the direction of the landfill, as per usual. Unfortunately, by the time
the numbers really peak here (around 5000 gulls today), the light is really
starting to fade. Currently I'm seeing almost as much Herring influence in
this flock as I am Western, which is not at all the norm for this area.
Indeed most of the Glaucous-winged were pure, pale-looking individuals. The
best bird today was a somewhat dainty 1W Glaucous Gull, in the main flock of
birds out on the water about 4:45. But where was my Slaty-backed??

Cheers and good birding
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington