Thayer's, Iceland at Patuxent

Dma3@aol.com
Sat, 23 Jan 1999 17:31:06 EST


At Reddington Lake on Saturday:

Fewer gulls at any one time, but there was a steady stream coming in to bathe.
They did not hang around as long because there was no ice, so numbers did not
build so high. Max was a few hundred Herrings between noon and 1 PM. A few
thousand could be seen over the dump.

Iceland Gull (kumlieni)1st winter for twenty minutes around noon. Like the
palest of the three Icelands that have been around, but maybe a different
individual. (A few more markings on the mantle.)

Thayer's Gull 1st winter. Watched it fly in at 12:50. It bathed and departed
at 12:55 when most of the gulls left. This is one of the very few pure thayeri
types I have seen in the mid-Atlantic region in the last 25 years. Most seem
to have one or more kumlieni features. This bird had dark gray-brown primaries
(darker than mantle), with strong pale fringes, a solid dark brown tail with
no mottling and a pale narrow terminal tip, solid dark centered tertials, and
dark retained juvenal scapulars. In flight all primaries (including p10)
showed inner web pale, contrasting with dark outer web, giving the "venetian
blind" effect as seen from above. The bill was all black, slightly larger than
kumlieni. Loral point, forehead, and crown were all slightly longer than
kumlieni, giving classic thayeri effect. Head just beginning to molt.

Also around were 4 Bonnies at 10AM, an adult Lesser Black-backed, and a worn
1st winter Lesser Black-backed.

Dave