We were checking the gulls out at a crab processing plant just north of
the intersection Patterson and Montesano streets in Westport yesterday
morning. We were watching a fairly dark juvenile glaucous gull fighting
off the motley crew of western and glaucous-winged gulls when a gull
landed among them. It had a very light gray mantle, white wing tips and
a bi-colored bill. I called it a probable 2+ year glaucous gull. It
didn't stick around long before heading off in the direction of the
marina where we lost it. Fortunately, I was able to get a couple of poor
photos of it in the early dawn light. The best is at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redpoll_6/8462241716/in/photostream After
getting home and looking at the files this morning, I'm starting to
wonder about my ID. The head was more rounded that I would expect for a
glaucous gull, more like what I would expect for a Thayer's. Also, the
bill seems a little bit lighter constructed than I would expect for a
glaucous (but not much). This all made me start wondering about Iceland
Gull. Any thoughts from you gull experts out there would be
appreciated. Thanks, Gary Fredricks, Washougal, Washington