Hey Tweeters,

I drove down to Tacoma this morning and arrived around 11:15AM. Ruth
Sullivan had just arrived and we began to look through the small group
of gulls out on the far right corner of the log raft. We soon located
a slightly darker-mantled gull hunkered down next to a seal and began
to watch it. As it began to preen we noticed several marks that gave
us hope, and many other birders arrived and slowly agreed with our
assessment. The dark collar was distinct and narrow, reaching down
along the side of the neck towards the breast on either side. There
was also dark up along the back of the head and around the eye. When
the bird faced us the white forehead was highly visible and, with a
head on look, the face looked all white and I could see the thin
collar extending around the neck on either side. In the right light
and with the right scope we could clearly see the dark, thick band on
the relatively slender bill and even the bright red tip to the bill.
The mantle was darker than a Western, but not by much (though it did
stand out a little in the crowd). After watching for a while waiting
for a tail glimpse we finally got look at the dark tail band,
affirming our ID. The black on the tail is distinct from the top and
less distinct from underneath, though still noticeable. The legs are
yellowish but this was hard to see from a distance.

Shep Thorpe arrived and was nice enough to offer to take us out in his
boat again, an offer which I quickly accepted. Unfortunately by the
time we got to the raft the bird was gone (we all missed it fly), but
we got great looks at Westerns, a Thayers, Mews, Olympics, and
Bonapartes. There were several Black Turnstones wandering around, a
Peregrine gave us a great show, and lots and lots of fat seals and pups.

The rain got heavy towards the end and the bird was nowhere to be
seen, so I reluctantly left to make it back in time for class. Good
luck everyone, I'll see if I can make it back this weekend.

-Nathaniel Peters
Seattle, WA
ncpeters at uw.edu