>Of course, one can argue hybrids 'til dooms day, but the bird
photos by Charlie pretty clearly show a bird in the Thayer's/
Iceland complex and way over on the Iceland side at that.



I have to disagree with the second part of that in terms of
structure - it looks much closer to Thayer's than to what is typical for
nominate Iceland to me. The primary projection isn't all that long,
the bill looks rather long/thick in the bottom shot, the legs while short
are not exceptionally so, and the body and head seem a bit bulky
in proportion to the eye. I think it would be hard to feel confident
this is a bird truly from nominate Iceland breeding range (Greenland
east). I would guess it is just as likely, if not more likely to be an
"extreme plumage" Kumlien's from somewhere in North America.

Like Mike Donahue I have also seen (several) Glaucous Gulls that
were smaller than avg for Glaucous-winged, although this bird
appears to be a bit beyond what I've personally seen structurally
in terms of shortness of the legs and lack of bulk in the rear.

The only adult Glaucous I've ever seen an orbital on in Oregon
happened to have a red one. Perhaps that is more common in
Alaskan Glaucous than those from elsewhere.

Cheers,

Phil Pickering
Lincoln City, Oregon
philliplc at harborside.com