Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing your quite obvious Chilliwack Iceland Gull. No fair!
In my mind, if Bob looked at all like your gull then we wouldn't be
having our yearly fun discussion about "him". Your photos of the
Chilliwack Iceland reinforce why I had a major struggle with calling Bob
an Iceland Gull.

Looking at your bird, I can certainly understand based on the size and
structure compared to nearby Glaucous-winged Gulls why the
identification was obvious. Bob maybe a bit smaller than nearby
Glaucous-winged Gulls, but not obviously so to my eyes. His bill looks
stubby but thick, not slim and tiny as in the Chilliwack bird. I have
never thought that Bob's head shape was "pigeon-like" and dainty looking
as I expect to see in Thayer's Gulls. The Chilliwack bird head gives
that classic dainty look. Bob also looks to be "big-chested" in
comparison to the Chilliwack Iceland Gull.

So thanks again for uploading your photos. The problem down here is that
Bob seems almost to be some kind of "tweener",although I tend to lean
toward a female barriovanus Glaucous Gull. Mike, if your gull shows-up
again in February of this year do you suppose we could work out some
sort of trade for Bob. You might need to name her first though.

Cheers and good birding,

Brad Waggoner
Bainbridge Island, Washington
mailto:wagtail at sounddsl.com