Tweeters,

Mary Anne Rossing and I (George Gerdts) took advantage of the
quintessential northwest fall day by driving to Commencement Bay in Tacoma to look for
the Black-tailed and Franklin's Gulls that have been repeatedly reported
from the area. One excuse or another prevented us from trying for the gulls
until today. We arrived at the Dick Gilmur pull-out at about 3:30 PM.
Hans Feddern was scanning, and he stayed with us for another 1/2 hour without
any success in locating either gull. At 5:15 I located the juv.
Franklin's Gull in amongst some Mew Gulls and some Bonaparte's Gulls at the far end
of the log boom that runs perpendicular to the beach. After observing the
Franklin's for some minutes, I scanned the rest of the gulls on the
perpendicular boom, and noticed one with a darker mantle. Mary Anne got on to it
quickly and confirmed that she "had the bird". We enjoyed a 1/2 hour
studying the gull as it preened, stretched its wings, and moved around a bit.
Several other birders stopped by and also saw the birds. One was visiting
from Illinois without his scope. He had picked the perfect time to stop,
since we had just located the Black-tailed Gull, to his delight. Thanks to
all for the great directions to the site, and especially to Gregg Thompson
for the incredible photos he has taken and shared.

George Gerdts
Bainbridge Island
_Geopandion at gmail.com_ (mailto:Geopandion at gmail.com)
206-842-8138