Mike's comments are welcomed. It's a good thing that people are taking a
look for themselves and not letting others' opinions sway them when in the
field.

Photos of the bird on January 14 have been posted on Surfbirds, at the
following link. They show the bird's short bill and very delicate overall
shape. I have another photo that shows the bird in profile with
Glaucous-winged and shows the size difference. Maybe Mike can determine if
this bird fits with the bird he observed.
http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery10

During the observations I have had of the gull in the above photos, it has
always been obviously smaller than the Glaucous-winged Gulls it was readily
compared to. I know Gene Hunn, George Gerdts, and Ryan Shaw among others
also had this distinct impression. Twice I've seen the bird immediately next
to Herring Gulls, and it was a bit smaller. One time I had it with a
Thayer's and the size was comparable, though the shape was slightly
different. Unless the bird chose the company of 30 very large
Glaucous-wingeds, 2 large Herrings, and a giant Thayer's on those two days,
I think our feel for the bird's size was accurate.

I'm not too disturbed by Mike's observation of a bird the same size as a
GWGU. It is actually quite likely that there are two white-winged gulls in
the area. Ryan Shaw and I had an adult Glaucous Gull, larger than the
current bird, in the exact same spot a year ago (22 January 2005). So do
beware. Ryan Merrill also photographed an apparent Glaucous x
Glaucous-winged Gull hybrid at the spot recently, so it seems to be a magnet
for those pale gulls for whatever reason.

As for the wings, Mike's comments refer to typical Kumlien's Gull. While
this alleged taxon is difficult or impossible to rule out (due to truly
extreme variation), if it is an Iceland the bird fits well with the
glaucoides end of the spectrum. These birds are actually a touch
paler-mantled than Glaucous Gull, and have fully white primaries. Note that
primary markings do not vary with the seasons.

A couple of other things. The gull observed January 12 and January 14 had a
dark rosy-red orbital ring color. Glaucous Gulls have a yellow-orange color
as far as I know, but information about the variability of this would be
much appreciated. The bird also had a head somewhat reminiscent of a Mew
Gull, which differed from last January's Glaucous Gull.

I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to study the gull or gulls at
Kent to please submit a description to the Washington Bird Records Committee
in the hopes that this can be sorted out in a satisfactory way.

Also, there are 3 leucistic Canada Geese in the Boeing Ponds area, which fit
the description of a goose just posted on Tweeters. As a random point of
interest, there is also a partial albino Red-tailed Hawk on 204th Street.

Anyone interested in a good study of variation in Iceland Gulls should take
a look at the reference gallery at this link, especially the "Pale adult"
section:
http://www.aerc.be/KumliensGull/index.htm

Cheers
Charlie Wright
Bonney Lake, Washington