Re: [MDOsprey] Unusual Gull at Conowingo Dam

Frederick W. Fallon (fwfallon@mnsinc.com)
Mon, 20 Dec 1999 14:58:52 -0800 

This summer, in the DC area,  I too saw a Herring Gull (adult) with bright
yellow legs - about the same color a Lesser Black-backed would have. I am
pretty sure of the ID because it was surrounded by other, pink-legged
Herring Gulls and displayed not the slightest difference with them other
than leg color. But I was quite surprised at the time.
    Harrison describes some European/Azores subspecies which do have yellow
legs; perhaps these gulls have wandered here from those areas.

Fred Fallon
fwfallon@mnsinc.com
Bowie MD

Les Eastman wrote:

> I was at Conowingo Dam for a couple of hours this morning. Lots of
> eagles present - mostly immatures. I didn't bother to count them but
> there were easily 30 around.
>
> There were a fair amount of gulls there - maybe 5000.  Besides the
> normal Ringed-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, there were a
> couple dozen or more Bonaparte's Gulls.  They tended to stay out near
> the upper end of the island, so I could not tell if there were or
> species mixed in with them.  I also found one Lesser Black-backed Gull
> on the wall.
>
> At about 10:30 am, while scanning the wall, I found a gull that looked
> like the Herring Gulls on either side of it, but it had bright yellow
> legs.  My first thought was a Yellow-legged Gull but consulting the 3rd
> edition of the NGS guide showed that it had too much mottling. I
> considered Thayer's but it would have pinker legs and a lighter mantle.
> California Gull would be smaller and have a darker mantle.  To my
> non-gull-expert eyes, this bird looked just like the Herring Gulls on
> either side of it except for the yellow legs.  It was the same size, had
> the same color mantle and was mottled on the head, neck and upper chest.
> The legs were the same color as a Ring-billed or Lesser Black-backed
> Gull. By now, the gulls on the wall had been scattered by a passing
> eagle and the bird was no were to be seen. I continued to look for it
> for about 30 minutes, but it never returned to the wall and I couldn't
> find it on the rocks.  The NGS guide mentions that some smithsonius can
> have yellowish legs and I found one Herring Gull that fit that
> description, but it was not the bird I had seen - it's legs were much
> brighter yellow. So, any ideas on what it could be?
>
> Les
>
> ======================
> Les Eastman
> les_eastman@netfox.net
> Havre de Grace, MD
> Visit the Harford Bird Club Web Page at http://birdclub.harfordhasit.com