November Monthly Notables

Sightings:

• Common Gull (adult). Knox County, Maine. 01 November 2024.
• Found the previous day, an individual with a blue field-readable band 74J. Same as bird found in MA in 2018.
• Common Gull (adult). Knox County, Maine. 02 November 2024.
• An unbanded individual, showing some henei characteristics. 
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Lincoln County, Oregon. 01 November 2024. 
• Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Benton County, Washington. 02 November 2024.
• Returning for an 8th consecutive year.
• Slaty-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Santa Cruz County, California. 04 November 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (1st cycle). Wake County, North Carolina. 09 November 2024.
• Short-billed Gull (adult). Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County, Ontario. 15 November 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Oneida County, New York. 17 November 2024.
• Ross's Gull (5). Gambell. St. Lawrence Island, AK. 17 November 2024.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Onondaga County, New York. 22 November 2024.
• Likely the same adult from Oneida County.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Lake County, Ohio. 23 November 2024.
• Ivory Gull (5 adults & juvenile). Baffin County, Nunavut. 24 November 2024.
• Little Gull (adult). Capital District, British Columbia. 26 November 2024.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Cuyahoga County, Ohio. 29 November 2024.
• The age is noteworthy here.

Notes:

1. As expected, the floodgates for Vega Gull reports have been open. Two 1st cycles from California (found here and here) and a 1st cycle in Oklahoma hold promise. 
2. The Slaty-backed Gull from Benton County, Washington returns for an 8th year. Thanks to Ian Paulsen for noting that this may be a North American record of a known SBAG that has returned to the same site for this many years.
3. The putative Black-headed x Ring-billed hybrid (adult) that has been seen for a number of years around Cumberland County, Maine was reported on 02 November 2024. 
4. A new apparent high count for the state, 635 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were counted in Hancock County, Ohio at Findlay Reservoirs.  
5. A higher-than-average number of sightings of late Sabine's Gulls was recorded throughout the lower 48 this month.

November Monthly Quiz

 

October. California

Age: This is a large white-headed gull. The rounded primary tips, adult-like gray on the back, and white uppertail coverts indicate it is not a 1st cycle. The flight feathers don't appear adult-like with broad white tips, thus we can be confident in aging it as a 2nd cycle.

Identification: The scapular feathers are fairly dark, suggesting a black-backed species. The broad wing and apparent thick bill with noticeable expansion at the tip are typical of Western Gull. Given the location and time of year, California Gull should be eliminated, which it is by bill pattern and overall structure. The hand appears short, recalling Slaty-backed Gull, but this may be a consequence of how the bird is holding its wing. 2nd cycle Slaty-backed Gull doesn't typically show a smudged head pattern like this, and its outer primaries are often paler with a two-toned venetian blinds pattern.

Our October Quiz bird is indeed a 2nd cycle Western Gull.

, but also by the broad wing. California Gull should have a sharply demarcated bill tip and a narrower wing that appears