Hi Everyone-- The adult Western Gull lounged around at the end of the little sandspit at the Plum Creek delta at Chatfield State Park until noon this morning 6/4, flew over to the marina, then over to the marina sandspit, then west over the cottonwoods towards the swim beach around 2pm. With the Driscolls and the Leukerings, I went over to the heron overlook, but we did not see it there as of about 3pm. The gull seems to prefer being at the east end of the lake, especially with the rest of the lake as crowded with boats and canoes as it is today. Its left leg appears to be injured, but at least for now it's doing all right hopping on the right leg. This little sandspit is only visible if you walk to the far end of the marina sandspit and look east with a scope. Some canoers came over with a bag of bread and were trying to feed it. It didn't much care for the bread, as it prefers seafood.
Having lived with and admired Western Gulls in California, Oregon, and Washington for many years, I can say that this looks like a pretty typical occidentalis from somewhere north of Morro Bay and south of Puget Sound (the mantle color is paler than typical wymani, but darker than those pesky "Olympic gulls" that drive Seattleites crazy). There are other birds at the park besides the Western Gull. At the Plum Creek picnic area, a Least Flycatcher was singing doggedly through the heat. Off the heron overlook, a very white-faced Clark's Grebe was with a group of Westerns. Mark Miller Longmont, CO -- 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.
