01 February 2019

Monthly Notables January 2019

Sightings:
  • Glaucous-winged Gull (adult). Larimer County, Colorado. 01 January 2019.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Monterey County, California. 01 January 2019.
  • Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Will County, Illinois. 01 January 2019.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Wayne County, Michigan. 03 January 2019.
    • Continuing from previous month.
  • Black-headed Gull (adult). Riverside County, California. 03 January 2019.
  • Common Gull (adult). Essex County, Massachusetts. 05 January 2019.
    • Continuing bird with metal band on right leg. 
  • Kamchatka Gull (adult). Essex County, Massachusetts. 05 January 2019.
  • Kamchatka Gull (subadult). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 08 January 2019.
  • Ivory Gull (1st cycle). North Dame Bay-Lewisporte County, NL. 09 January 2019.
  • Great Black-backed Gull (adult). Daggett County, Utah. 13 January 2019.
    • FIRST STATE RECORD.
  • Vega Gull (adult type). Volusia County, Florida. 14 January 2019.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Stark County, Ohio. 15 January 2019.
    • FIRST STATE RECORD.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Essex County, Ontario. 16 January 2019.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (adult). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 17 January 2019.
  • Slaty-bcked Gull (adult). Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. 21 January 2019.
    • 2nd Province Record.
  • California Gull (adult type). Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia. 27 January 2019.
    • 2nd Province Record. Only the 3rd for Atlantic Canada.
  • Slaty-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Monterey County, California. 29 January 2019.

Miscellaneous Notes:
  1. Certainly the most exciting news this month is the Slaty-backed Gull discovered by Kent Miller in Stark County, Ohio. The setting for this sighting was nearly identical to the state's first Kelp Gull found at the same landfill four years ago. A long overdue bird for the Buckeye state.
  2. The banded Icelandic Common Gull that is now returning to MA, was found with an apparent Kamchatka Gull in Essex County. Observer Suzanne Sullivan reported both birds seen together. To make matters most interesting, the Kamchatka Gull shows a p8 mirror (limited to the inner web).
  3. With advanced digital photography now a common fixture in birding, quality photos of individual gulls are becoming increasingly revealing. The 2nd cycle type Black-legged Kittiwake observed in Will County, Illinois early in the month, was observed and photographed in St. Clair County, Michigan 8 days later (a distance of ~300 miles). Also, Ohio's 1st Slaty-backed Gull proved to be one of the adults seen in Brant County, Ontario a month earlier, traveling a short distance of 170 miles, likely straight across Lake Erie. 
at