Hey tweets, I hauled my weary carcass out to Renton for the fourth time
yesterday afternoon to try for the Slaty-backed Gull. It was cold and
rainy and lonely. The only other person I ever saw at the site was the
rocket guy. He seemed lonely, too. There weren't many gulls at the mouth
of the Cedar River, and what few there were flew off as soon as he drove
his red truck up the water. He gazed out over the lake, probably trying to
decide if it was worth his trouble to fire any shells. I took shelter from
the drizzle on one of the benches in front of the kayak center and
hunkered down into my jacket. I figured that as a birder with years of
experience chasing futile birds in howling storms, I could certainly
outlast a guy with a warm truck tempting him to quit work early. No one
has more sitzfleisch than a birder on a mission, right?

Sure enough, around 3:45, the rocket guy packed it in. No sooner had he
disappeared than gulls starting flying in, mostly from the south. It was
fun watching them approach, even if "my guy" wasn't among them. Each gull
would soar over the buildings to the south, lower its pink or yellow
landing gear, spread out the toes, backflap the wings, land, do one final
wing-stretch, and then commence bathing. The air was so still I could hear
each bird splashing in the water. Some splashed vigorously, as though they
were really trying to get back up in the sky again. Others took a more Ava
Gardner in the bath approach, languidly putting out a limb and inspecting
it before getting to work on it.

In a few minutes, the Glaucous Gull showed up. Then at 4:10, in came the
Slaty-back! He really was different from a Western, just as the expert
birders who helped me yesterday had said. His mantle had a neutral color
cast to it, not bluish as a Western. His eye was pale. His hind neck was
streaked with brown. That, coupled with his gimpy leg, made him look like
a junkyard gull, the kind of bird that had been in some fights and knew
the score. A plug-ugly, but very beautiful to me. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com