Larimer landfill gulls (adult Kumlien's, etc.)

[quet...@comcast.net]

Gulls dominated the birds of interest (for me anyway) this afternoon in southeast Larimer County. After getting permission to view the action on top of the Larimer County landfill, Scott Rashid and I studied several gulls of interest. We left a few oddballs identified as presumed American Herring Gulls, but we also viewed at least 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (mostly adults), about the same number of Thayer's Gulls (mostly juveniles) and a putative adult Kumlien's Gull, which unfortunately evaded our cameras. The Kumlien's had very limited black/dark gray in the tips of the primaries (hard to see when in flight), was small-billed, and seemed to lack any smudging or streaking on the head, i.e. it appeared white-headed. My ebird checklist is here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20809840.

 

A couple other birds of interest was an "albertaensis" California Gull (photos and commentary at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/albertaensis12062014) and a "Vega" Herring Gull (photo at http://www.pbase.com/quetzal/image/158463952), both of which are believed to be rare subspecies that need better documentation in Colorado. These are probably the same two individuals that have been reported from nearby lakes in the Loveland area of late.

Nick Komar

Fort Collins CO