Dear Tweeters,
Yesterday morning, the tenth of January, there was an interesting gull in a field east of Sedro-Woolley. I stopped my car and watched it for about ten minutes. It was foraging in a pasture with a small flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls at the SE corner of Hoehn Road and Minkler Road, on the Minkler Flats. Here is a link to my eBird checklist, which has a few photos of this gull.


eBird Checklist - 10 Jan 2021 - Minkler Flats - 13 species (+1 other taxa)


When I spotted it, I thought the bird was a Glaucous Gull, since it was so white, and its bill bicolored. I had seen a Glaucous Gull in this same field fifteen years ago. However, on closer view, the dark area on the distal part of the bill on yesterday's bird was not demarcated as cleanly as would be expected on a Glaucous Gull, and the base of the bill was not pink. A friend drove over to view the gull a short while later, but the flock had vanished. Any opinions as to this bird's ID would be welcomed. 
Later yesterday, there were at least 19 Ancient Murrelets off Green Point, Washington Park. These birds were giving close views, albeit brief ones. It was possible to hear their high-pitched "styrofoam squeak" calls, which they would utter during their five-second sojourns at the surface. Then they'd dive again, and it would take quite a while for them to reappear.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch




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