Based on the photos I suspect Lesser Black-backed Gull. Legs are concealed, sand at distance, eye color can be misconstrued. October birds can still have white heads.
Nick Komar Fort Collins CO > On Oct 5, 2017, at 11:32 AM, Bill Schreitz <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello again, > > > > I am adding pictures of the mystery gull and adding the possibility of a Kelp > Gull, though being perhaps more rare but having a late summer record in > Latimer County in 2003. > > > >> On Wednesday, October 4, 2017 at 9:21:03 PM UTC-6, Bill Schreitz wrote: >> Hello, This morning, visiting Barr lake for the first time since I moved >> here from the east in March, I saw a flock of California Gulls of some 300+ >> close to the edge of the island viewed from the smartweed lakeside point out >> from the banding nets. While attempting to count them individually, I >> clearly came across one that was not like the others. The beak was bright >> yellow and the gonydeal spot was bright red with no trace of black. The head >> was all white and the eye was dark. The legs were pale, no hint of yellow or >> pink, not unlike the gulls nearby. The back & wings were dark gray/black, >> certainly seemingly black in comparison to the other gulls. >> >> Were it not for the size (which appeared only slightly larger than the >> California Gulls), I would have been convinced I was looking at a Great >> Black-backed Gull, a bird with which I am familiar, having watched them >> expand their territory in Maryland for the past 20 years. >> >> I ruled out the Western Gull (perhaps equally unlikely with the respect to >> range) because of the leg & eye color. I also dismissed the Lesser >> Black-backed gull because of its foot color & brown streaking >> characteristically on its head. >> >> I am puzzled as to what is left for me other than another learning >> opportunity. I do have some pictures if anyone is interested, but at 120 >> yards or so, they are marginally archival. (FYI, the scope I was using is a >> Kowa 80mm, and the lense for the camera is a Olympus 200mm telephoto with a >> 1.4 converter.) >> >> Bill >> >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/11f009b5-c531-43d5-a09b-d0e3fd33bb57%40googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/C5959F4F-89C8-48BE-A73C-8C3E5199285F%40comcast.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
