Hi Tweets:
I hit the trifecta of gulls today, Black-tailed, juv Franklin's, and Sabine's Gull while viewing the log booms on Commencement Bay. I arrived about noon, and parked at Dick Gilmur Park on hwy 509. It was cloudy, but warm. I very-quickly saw the juv Franklin's Gull, on the right log boom, almost out to the end. The partial hood on its head really stood out, as I compared it to the Bonaparte's Gulls next to it. I couldn't locate the Black-tailed Gull, so I drove north another 2 blocks or so, and stopped at the pullout that is next to a house w/ bird feeders. Kevin Black and his brother were there. Thanks to Kevin, I was able to see the Black-tailed Gull, which had hunkered down. There is a new large log raft anchored onto the outer log boom. The gull was perched on the near edge of that large log raft. The bird was facing away, and it was hard to see the field marks, except when it moved just right. Kevin had seen it first on the near logboom, and it had flown out to the second log boom w/ the large raft of new logs. Kevin and his brother had to leave, and at about 1:15 I saw a flying juv Sabine's Gull almost straight out. I first saw it flying just past the new log raft, and then it flew out into the center where there were lots of flying gulls. It perched on the water out there briefly. It was flying out in the middle as I watched, and in the backround you could see the large grain elevator. I watched it fly for about 8 minutes, but then did not see it again. It is striking w/ its black and tan m-shaped pattern, and black band on its tail. The wings are very long. Beautiful bird. After that, Knut Hansen showed up and took digiscope pictures of the Blk-t Gull. We didn't see the Sabine's again.
At 2pm, I traveled to Pt Defiance Park to try to see Jaegers. I found out its hard to get there by going around the edge of the bay, because the tunnel at Asarco is now gone!!, and you must take a detour to get to Pt Defiance. About 3 blocks before the public fishing pier on Ruston Way, you turn left and go thru an underpass. From there the "detour" is hardly marked at all. You're on your own. You essentially travel up a steep hill, and along the ridge behind what used to be Asarco, in order to get to Pearl St on 46th St, near Pt Defiance Park. Luckily I had a map. It was very quiet birding over on the waters near Pt Defiance. I did see a few Rhino Auklets.
I left Pt Defiance Park, and returned to the log boom area. It was late afternoon. Lighting was poor at my favorite pullout by the bird feeder house, and I couldn't find any of the special birds. I doubled back to Dick Gilmur, where Ruth Sullivan was. We found 3 Least Sandpipers on the near log boom, down at the far left end w/ some of the many Black Turnstones. There had to have been 30 or more Turnstones. A couple were there from New York State, looking for the rare gull. They were in WA to visit their son at Evergreen St College. I kept looking for the gull out on the far log raft. Finally some birds flew, and we saw a black tail on an adult gull. It flew briefly and landed back in a spot very close to where it had been earlier in the day. The couple got the gull in their scope.
It had been a nice warm day, with a few rain drops, but no wind, and 3 terrific gulls. A great day of birding for me. Thank you, Kevin Black, for showing me the Black-tailed Gull!
Yours, Carol Schulz
Des Moines


From: Kevin Black
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 2:43 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Black-Tailed Gull Continues (at Commencement Bay)


Hi all,

Over on the west side visiting my parents in Olympia. Decided to swing by to Tacoma to see the black-tailed gull. Spotted the black-tailed
Gull on the log booms preening. The gull seems to be a bit more active now. Easily observed the unique Id features on the gull I have poor pics but mostly identifiable pics using digiscoping technique with my iPhone. Many Bonapartes Gull and the Franklin's Gull was present on the log booms as well. Carol Schultz pulled up before I was leaving and we were able to look at the Black-Tailed together.

Kevin Black
Richland, WA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eager_like_a_deer
Sent from my iPhone