March 2023 Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Short-billed Gull (1st cycle). San Juan County, New Mexico. 04 March 2023.
• Glaucous-winged Gull (adult type). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 05 March 2023.
• 2nd State Record*. 
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Clark County, Washington. 06 March 2023.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). St. John's County, Newfoundland. 06 March 2023.
• Continuing from Feb 2023. 
• Slaty-backed Gull (2nd cycle). San Mateo County, California. 06 March 2023.
• No longer a state review species, but age noteworthy.
• Great Black-backed Gull (1st cycle x 2). Hancock County, Mississippi. 08 March 2023.
• Review List Species in MS.
• Vega Gull (adult). San Mateo County, California. 09 March 2023.
• Different than the returning adult from last month.
• Common Gull (adult). Lorain County, Ohio. 11 March 2023.
• An intermediate bird, pssb. 2nd State Record.
• Yellow-footed Gull (adult). Monterey County, California. 11 March 2023.
• 1st County Record. Likely the Santa Cruz Co. bird from Dec 2022.
• Ross's Gull (1st cycle). Cook County, Illinois. 11 March 2023.
  
• 3rd State Record, all from Cook County.
• Ross's Gull (1st cycle). Lake County, Indiana. 11 March 2023.
• 2nd State Record. Same individual from Illinois. 
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Kent County, Michigan. 11 March 2023.
• Little Gull (adult). Marion County, Indiana. 13 March 2023.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Volusia County, Florida. 15 March 2023.
• Little Gull (adult). Knox County, Tennessee. 15 March 2023.
• Laughing Gull (1st cycle). Pacific County, Washington. 18 March 2023.
• 10th State Record.
• Common Gull (2 adults). Windham County, Connecticut. 19 March 2023.
• The continuing bird from January joined by a second adult.
• Kumlien's Gull (adult). Sitka County, Alaska.20 March 2023.
• Sabine's Gull (6 adults). San Diego County, California. 21 March 2023.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Chatham County, North Carolina. 21 March 2023.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (200*). Chatham County, North Carolina. 21 March 2023.
• Little Gull (adult). Shelby County, Tennessee. 21 March 2023.
• 2nd County Record.
• Sabine's Gull (adult type). Tom Green County, Texas. 27 March 2023.
• Heermann's Gull (4th cycle). Virginia Beach, Virginia. 28 March 2023.
• Presumed Atlantic coast bird, drifting north this month. 
• California Gull (adult). Talbot County, Maryland. 28 March 2023.
• Thayer's Gull (adult). Cameron Parish, Louisiana. 29 March 2023.
• Heermann's Gull (2nd cycle). Baltimore County, Maryland. 30 March 2023.
• Now in 2nd alternate, appearing much more like a 3rd cycle.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult - 2). Labrador-Happy V-G Bay County, NL. 31 March 2023.
• 1st March Record for Labrador. 
• Glaucous-winged Gull (2nd cycle). Bronx County, New York. 31 March 2023.
• Would be 1st STATE RECORD. 

Notes:

• Amazingly, only 2 months after the 1st State Record Glaucous-winged Gull was found in Ohio, Anthony Rodgers found another, this time an adult, less than a half mile away from his first find.
• A mixed flock of 200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in Chatham County, North Carolina is noteworthy. Trenton Voytko reported ~85% adults, inland at Jordan Lake SRA.

March 2023 Quiz

 

California. January.

Age: Juvenile-like flight feathers (especially the primaries) with overall brown aspect and black bill suggest 1st cycle.

Identification: This large chocolaty 1st cycle shows a swollen bill tip (bulbous-tipped), smooth brown pattern on the body, deep keel and broad wings. American Herring and Western Gull come to mind, and given the bill structure, relatively small eye placed high on a large face, and dark inner primaries, there is much going for Western. Note the distinct white trailing edge to the secondaries. This is regularly found in Western Gull, and not expected in American Herring. The broad line of pale notching along the greater covert tips also supports Western Gull, which this is.