On the heels of the famous Ross’s Gull, an amazing influx of northern gulls has occurred along the northern Front Range. Some examples from today:
Warren Lake (Fort Collins, Larimer County) – several hundred gulls including at least 25 Herring Gulls (large number for this location) and two picture-perfect first-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Windsor Reservoir (Weld County) – several hundred gulls, including 1 adult Thayer’s Gull (also an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull). North Weld County Landfill (Hwy 14, near Ault) – hundreds of gulls, including an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. This would be an important gull hot-spot to monitor in the coming weeks. Black Hollow Reservoir, northwest of landfill, on Weld CR 19. – many hundreds of gulls (very distant unfortunately), but the majority appeared to be Herring Gulls, by far the largest concentration of Herring Gulls I have ever encountered in Colorado. Douglas Reservoir (west of Wellington, Larimer County) – about a hundred gulls. Needless to say, this is a good time to study these carefully for the more unusual northern gulls, such as the “white-winged” Glaucous and Thayer’s Gulls, but also rarer Iceland and Glaucous-winged Gulls, not to mention the dark-backed Slaty-backed Gull. One northern taxon, Vega Gull, should be expected too. Although the American Ornithologists’ Union still classifies Vega Gull as a Siberian/Alaskan subspecies of Herring Gull, the Europeans have elevated it to full species status. It is depicted in the Sibley Guide. Over the last few years, the Colorado birding community has lost some of its most avid gull-watchers (aka gullers or larophiles), so the rest of us should try to pick up their slack, so to speak. Nick Komar Fort Collins CO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
