Hello All,
Steve is correct in saying that there has been no dip or drop in Franklins Gull numbers in eastern Washington. Their numbers have in fact pushed upward with 3-10 birds now not uncommon at Iowa Beef or the Walla Walla River delta from June -Sept.. This species is also popping up in areas that they have never been seen such as Lincoln, Spokane and Douglas Counties. In the late 1990s we started observing this gull out on many of the playa lakes in Malheur Co. ( Not Malheur NWR), Oregon and along the Snake River near Ontario in April. So it is my contention that we in eastern Washington may be finding birds from the Great Basin in early summer and late summer drifters out of the mid-west. Just a thought.
Later Mike

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Mike & MerryLynn Denny
1354 S. E. Central Ave.
College Place, WA 99324
509.529.0080 (h)

IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BIRDING, YOU HAVEN'T LIVED!
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