For all you gull lovers ("larophiles"), an interesting gull was photographed on
Tuesday morning at the North Weld County landfill on Hwy 14 north of Severance
(between Fort Collins and Ault) . Witness quality photos can be viewed at
http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/mysterygullw . It is a large "white-winged gull"
but not a Glaucous (bill is mostly dark). It resembles a bleached first-cycle
gull but has dark gray in the mantle. The Sibley Guide shows first summer
Slaty-backed Gull (p. 222) and first summer Glaucous-winged Gull (p. 221) to
be similar in appearance. Better photos may be needed to nail down the precise
identity of this gull. If anyone has or gets photos, please share.
I believe I saw this bird briefly on Saturday afternoon April 3. Mark Miller,
is this the bird you reported from late Saturday? This is definitely a
different bird from the uniform brown first-cycle Glaucous-winged Gull that
Cole Wild and I reported from Sunday morning at nearby Black Hollow Res, viewed
distantly from Weld CR 19.
If you visit the area, keep in mind that in recent days there have been
Glaucous (1st cycle, 2nd cycle and adult), Thayer's (2-3 1st cycle, 2nd cycle,
2 adult) and Iceland (2 1st cycle, 2nd-cycle) Gulls in the mix. Also 2 adult
Lesser Black-backed Gulls. And maybe the reported Black-headed Gull could
reappear. I suspect many of these have moved on but you never know.
Weld County landfill officials are adamant to not allow entrance to the
facility, but telescope viewing of landfill gulls may be accomplished from the
breakdown lanes of Hwy 14. Please be careful of high speed traffic.
Nick Komar
Fort Collins CO
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