Warning- you'll note I said 7 kinds (not species) of gulls… ;-) My dad Jim & I enjoyed the sunny President's Day despite some harsh winds today. We birded in Boulder & Broomfield Counties, with most of our highlights at Anthem Ponds, Broomfield County (off HWY 7 & Lowell.) We were a Brant short of the Colorado goose slam, picking up the other 5 species currently on the state list. The lingering large (1000-ish) flock of white-cheeked geese (largely Canada but with a strong minority of Cackling) was at the pond just north of the Northwest Parkway, east of Lowell. With them were two Snow Geese, a Blue Goose, and an adult Greater White-fronted Goose. On the small pond by the rec center, a dainty Ross's Goose joined a small group of Cacklers.
On the "main" gull pond below the rec center, about 400 gulls enjoyed the ice edge at any given time (though there was turnover throughout the day.) In order of abundance were Ring-billed, Herring (a couple dozen), Thayer's (three that we picked out, two 1st-winter birds and an adult), California (2 adults) and Lesser Black-backed (an adult & a 3rd-cycle, almost certainly the same bird Ted Floyd had yesterday at Prince Lake #1). Those 5 species were joined by two hybrids: the continuing 1st-cycle Nelson's Gull (Herring x Glaucous), and a bird that I'm liking for a 2nd-cycle Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull. Ted commented on this bird yesterday at Prince #1 as well- he confirms that it is the same bird after reviewing photos. Interestingly, Steve Mlodinow had a 2nd-cycle Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull on 14 Jan. at nearby Siena Pond, but photos show that his bird & ours from today are different individuals. Siblings / cousins?? Bryan Guarente also reported this kind of hybrid at McIntosh Lake on 19 Jan. For those not already glazed over by talk of hybrid gulls, here are my transcribed notes on the bird (HERG = Herring Gull, GWGU = Glaucous-winged Gull, WEGU = Western Gull): Mostly dark bill a bit odd for HERG by 2nd cycle, bill seemed heavier than HERG, too, with a bit more pronounced gonydeal expansion?? Slopplily marked bill with wide black tip, black running to gape along tomia and transitioning to dirty pinkish proximal end above & below tomia. Irides dark (darkish? can't be absolutely sure they aren't black.) Breast mottled like young GWGU. Mantle & scups pretty clean gray about same as HERG or RBGU. Otherwise reminds me of what Steve Howell says about 2nd-cycle GWGU: Overall dirty aspect... Overall upperparts tone (aside from clean gray mantle/scaps) a grayish-brown, weakly marked coverts. Wing projection HERG-ish, primaries silvery brownish-gray underneath, med. gray-brown above (look darker in shadow but kind of palish in sun.) No obvious secondary bar that I could pick out. General underwing pattern a helluvalot like GWGU imho. Size = (or essentially so) to nearby HERG, smaller than nearby Nelson's Gull. I'm thinking Glaucous-winged one parent but upper surface of primaries too dark, wings a bit longish, bill not quite savage enough, etc.?? 2nd parent HERG? Or should I be considering Glaucous-winged x Western (much to compare here with GWGU x WEGU examples in Howell & Dunn)?? Comments from fellow laraphiles Tony Leukering, Steve Mlodinow, Glenn Walbek, and Ted Floyd are encouraging me to stick with my Herring x Glaucous-winged idea. Steve had a nice summary sentence that I'll pencil into the margin of my treasured Gulls of the Americas: "To me, it looks like a hefty THGU, and that is precisely what many GW x Herring Gulls look like." Digiscoped pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/ Further comments welcomed! Enjoy- Bill Schmoker ______________________ • Bill Schmoker • ______________________ http://schmoker.org http://brdpics.blogspot.com bill.schmo...@gmail.com 720/201-5749 ______________________ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
