Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Gulls - Gulls - Gulls
Date: Mar 6 14:11:45 2014
From: B Boekelheide - bboek at olympus.net


Coincidentally, there was a similar feeding flock of 3000+/- gulls this morning (3/6/14) at the mouth of the Dungeness River in Dungeness Bay. They're madly feeding within the plume of brown water that?s washing into the bay, most dipping from flight, others feeding while sitting on the surface and standing in shallow water. It?s a chaotic scene. The majority are Mew Gulls, perhaps 2000+, most of which are dipping to the surface while flying.

I haven?t looked close enough to know for sure, but I?m wondering if these birds are going after pink salmon smolts. We had a record pink salmon run in the Dungeness last fall, and now is the time for the smolts to be entering salt water, perhaps washed downstream by the big rains over the last 24 hours.

Bob Boekelheide
Dungeness


From: Russ Koppendrayer <russkope at gmail.com>
Subject: [Tweeters] Gulls - Gulls - Gulls
Date: March 5, 2014 at 4:31:29 PM PST
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>


Hi Tweeters,

I've been doing most of my birding away from home for the last couple weeks and was unaware that there was a substantial smelt run in the lower Cowlitz River for the first time in a few years. There are thousands of gulls attracted to this and in a quick trip out there in a downpour after 3 PM I found 6 species roosting at the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 1185 West Side Highway between Longview and Lexington. I just used bins from my car and didn't check any over the river. Mostly MEW, CALIFORNIA, & GLAUCOUS-WINGED but also present were a few RING-BILLED, WESTERN & HERRING as well as hybrids. If there is anyone interested enough in gulls to check this out, I would suggest using exit 42 off I-5; crossing the river into Lexington and then going south on West Side Highway. There is construction with detours at the bridges in Kelso causing congestion and confusion.

Russ Koppendrayer
Longview, WA