Hello all, I would have posted this sooner, but Ive spent all afternoon and evening at a south Fargo residence waiting for a white-winged dove to reappear at a neighborhood feeder. Unfortunately, it did not return but hopefully will in the days to come. Now on to the gull:
I found a pair of what I have identified as 1st summer California gulls in a large area of standing water in a hayfield about 2 miles east of Bluestem Prairie SNA on 17th street. This is about one-and-a-half miles north of the Clay County sanitary landfill. They were in a flock of about 40 ring-billed gulls. My experience with identifying immature gulls is limited, so if anyone has any comments on the identity of these birds, Id be happy to hear it! Heres the description from my field notes: Size: noticeably larger than the ring-billed gulls, but not overly so. Head: pale brown with distinct two-toned bill, the distal 1/4 to 1/3 black, the base light; eye dark. Plumage: gray scapulars, noticeable but not very distinct. Mantle, flanks and back mottled to solid pale brown (no visible barring). Breast pale brown. Neck pale white in front to pale brown lower towards the breast. Primaries very dark without any indication of white tips, greater coverts dark but lighter than primaries and tipped with white. Legs: pink The birds just stood there in the rain preening themselves and never took flight. I watched them for about fifteen minutes and then moved on. Ive checked field guides, books and on-line resources and this is the closest match I can find. 1st summer herring gull appears to have a paler head and much lighter primaries and coverts. 2nd winter herring gull is also somewhat similar, but it seems to me that this is the wrong time of year for that plumage condition. Good Birding! Pat Patrick Beauzay Department of Entomology 217 Hultz Hall, Bolley Drive North Dakota State University Fargo, ND 58105 701-231-9491 [email protected] http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/entomology/ http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/beauzay/tigerbeetles/index.htm http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/beauzay/Mounting_Chalcidoidea/Chalcmount.htm
