COBirders, I made a quick stop at Big Johnson reservoir this afternoon and found very little. The cold front arrived about 20 minutes after I got there so I was basically leaving when John Drummond showed up. I stayed to chat with John and while we were talking we noticed a very pale gull come flying in and land way out on the water. As we were studying the bird, which turned out to be a 1st cycle THAYER'S GULL, we noticed another gull come into view. At first, I was a bit stumped by the bird as it was an adult dark-mantled bird but not dark enough to be a "typical" Lesser Black-backed yet was darker than a nearby adult California Gull. It was obviously larger than the Cal and Ring-billed gulls. It appeared just a bit "longer" and a bit heftier than the Thayer's Gull. It had an all white head, no streaking that John or I detected. Other things noted while it was sitting on the water was a pale eye and large yellow bill with red gonydeal, neither of us could determine the orbital color, just a bit too far. Then the bird took flight and we immediately saw the obvious bubble gum pink legs. In flight we also were able to see the wide trailing edge of the wings and just tiny white mirrors on all but P10 (outermost primary feather). P10 had a more obvious mirror. So we felt like this was good for WESTERN GULL and we thought with the lighter mantle it was of the northern nominate occidentalis subspecies. Unfortunately, as fast as that bird arrived (apparently with the front) it also departed. We watched it gain a bit of altitude to the north and disappear. We stayed until almost dark and it never returned. Hopefully it will be found again! Oh, the LONG-TAILED DUCK also put in an appearance. -----Mark Peterson Colorado Springs
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