June 2024 Monthly Notables

    Sightings:

• Great Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle type). Portage la Prairie County, Manitoba. 01 June 2024.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Charlevoix County, Michigan. 05 June 2024.
• Ivory Gull (2 2nd cycles). Gambell, Alaska. 05 June 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Roussillon County, Quebec. 05 June 2024.
• Black-tailed Gull (adult). Schoolcraft County, Michigan. 08 June 2024. 
• 1ST STATE RECORD. Continued through 10 June 2024.
• Sabine's Gull (adult). Cochise County, Arizona. 09 June 2024. 
• Laughing Gull (2nd cycle). Linn & Livingston County, Missouri. 16 June 2024.
• 1st County Record for both Linn & Livingston.
• Heermann's Gull (adult). Dare County, North Carolina. 18 June 2024.
• Presumably the Atlantic coast bird, last seen in east-central FL in mid-February.
• Franklin's Gull (2nd cycle). Miami-Dade County, Florida. 20 June 2024.
• Thayer's Gull (2nd & 3rd cycle types). San Mateo County, California. 20 June 2024.
• Kumlien's Gull (2nd cycle type). New Hanover County, North Carolina. 21 June 2024.
• Sabine's Gull (adult type). Kings County, New York. 26 June 2024.
• 1st Brooklyn Record since 1930s; 3rd NYC Record. 
• California Gull (3rd cycle type). Essex County, Ontario. 29 June 2024.

    Notes:

• A Lake Michigan high count of 98 Lesser Black-backed Gulls was reported in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, on 04 June 2024, by Jim Frank. The majority of individuals were one-year-olds, at the start of their 2nd prebasic molt. No adults.

• The Illinois Black-tailed Gull from late May was found 250 miles to the north in Manistique, Michigan, by Christopher Vogel, on 08 June 2024. A long-awaited 1st State Record.

• A significant passage of ~68 Ross's Gulls was reported at Gambell (St. Lawrenc Island) on 05 June 2024 by Kevin Zimmer. This extraordinary one-day count exceeds cumulative Spring season totals of this species for this site. No definitive adults were recorded.

June 2024 Quiz

 

May. Wisconsin.

Age: The dark tertials and dark wing panel, coupled with adult-like scapulars and dark ear spot suggest a 1st cycle type small gull. 

Identification: Given the time of year, this should be a one-year old tern-like gull based on the overall size, white body and dark ear spot. Important here is the white wedge seen on the base of the primaries, just below the tertials. This points directly to Bonaparte's and Black-headed, although the leg color suggests the former. Little Gull might be suspected based on the extraordinarily dark wing coverts (partly due to lighting). That species shows a saw-tooth black-to-white pattern on the folded primaries, with black on the outer webs and white on the inner half. Below is our May Quiz bird, sporting an all-black bill and thin tail band -- a 1st cycle Bonaparte's Gull showing a somewhat darker than average wing panel.