Loveland Gulls (Larimer)

[Andrew Bankert]

Nick Komar and I headed down to Horseshoe Lake in Loveland this evening to pick through the gull flock.  It was a very good day with about 8 species found, although we did not find the Great Black-backed Gull.  When I saw the Mew Gull I reported yesterday had been rejected by ebird (I wasn't sure if we misidentified the bird or just didn't provide enough evidence with poor photos and even worse details) I became determined to study first cycle Ring-billed Gulls to see if I had actually misidentified yesterday's bird in sub-optimal conditions.  Unfortunately, there aren't many young Ring-billed Gulls around, but I did find a very similar looking bird which was a first-cycle MEW GULL and made me more confident in our identification yesterday.  I guess it is better to include more details on the bird and fewer hashtags in eBird descriptions.  We also found the continuing (bird that has been reported as an) ICELAND GULL along with four THAYER'S GULLs (if you believe in those).  The Iceland Gull was pretty distant, and I never personally saw any barring on the tertials although everything else seemed to fit for what people call Iceland Gulls out here.  There was also a very pale Thayer's Gull around, but the primaries were much darker than the Iceland Gull's primaries.  We also had a couple of early FRANKLIN'S GULLS and 14 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS in the flock of 1500-2000 gulls.  We only birded the southwest corner of the lake. 

Good Birding!

Andy Bankert

Fort Collins, CO