Western Gull Still At Blanca Wetlands

[mvjo...@gmail.com]

During official bird surveys this morning, I re-found the Western Gull (Alamosa County) reported earlier by others. It is on Pond #115, which is on the way to "South Mallard". You can drive right to this lake and the gulls are hanging out here with 100 Am W Pelicans. The Blanca Wetlands area is still closed but will be open to birders on Sat July 16th.  Lots of shorebirds present today including Willet, Marbled Godwit, Western Sandpipers, and Stilt Sandpiper. Pond #016 remains the best for shorebirds.

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO  

[Steve Stachowiak]

Cobirders,

This is to point out that there was not an accepted record of Western Gull in the state until Walbek found the first state record in June 2011.  There are a couple of other accepted records from 2012 and 2013 (with possibly another pending).  On the surface it appears there maybe a trend for this species to appear in the state but experience tells us not to count on it.  In other words, it seems that John has an accommodating bird and it would be well worth taking a drive to observe it on July 16th, at least in my opinion. 

Besides, there are few drives that can rival the scenery of Hwy 285 south out of Denver down to the San Luis Valley!

Good birding,

Steve Stachowiak

Highlands Ranch, CO

[George Miller]

John,
Can you post a link to a map showing the Pond Numbers?

Thanks
Greg

On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 4:56:45 PM UTC-6, mvjo...@gmail.com wrote: