August 2022 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Little Gull (2nd cycle). Monterey County, California. 01 August 2022.
• Continuing from July 2022. p1-p4 new. 
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Fort McMurray County, Alberta. 02 August 2022.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). San Francisco County, California. 06 August 2022.
• Heermann's Gull (1st cycle). Sitka, Alaska. 12 August 2022.
• Laughing Gull (2nd cycle). Montmagny County, Quebec. 13 August 2022.
• Heermann's Gull (4th cycle). Duval County, Florida. 14 August 2022.
• Atlantic Coast bird. Slowed 4th prebasic molt, still with many 3rd generation secondaries and outermost primaries. 
• Ivory Gull (adult). Baffin County, Nunavut. 21 August 2022.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Toronto County, Ontario. 25 August 2022.
• Moribund individual.
• Little Gull (juvenile). Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska. 25 August 2022.
• Little Gull (juvenile). Jefferson County, Wisconsin. 27 August 2022.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Los Angeles County, California. 27 August 2022.
• Continuing from July 2022.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle type). Juneau County, Alaska. 28 August 2022.
• Black-headed Gull (2nd cycle). Queens County, New York. 29 August 2022.
• Continuing from June 2022. Concluding 2nd prebasic molt.
• Laughing Gull (3 juveniles). Lorain County, Ohio. 29 August 2022.
• Notable count anywhere on the Great Lakes.

August 2022 Quiz

 

January. Washington. 

Age: Overall, both individuals appear to be adult type four-cycle gulls. The smaller apicals in mid-winter are not due to wear, and suggest younger adults. Zooming in, both individuals show dark markings on the primary coverts (just below the outer secondaries) which confirms the suspicion of not-quite-adult birds.

Identification: Pink-legged large white-headed gulls, with strong bills that appear somewhat bulbous, immediately evokes thoughts of Western Gull. The gray upperparts may be within range for northern occidentalis, but the smudgy head pattern is much more expected in hybrid Glaucous-winged x Westerns. Also, looking closely at the primaries -- especially on the individual on the right -- we find they're not quite pure black which is typical of this hybrid. Thus, both birds have enough oddities to comfortably be labeled hybrid Glaucous-winged x Westerns (so-called Olympic Gulls).