Paul,

I think I saw the same bird this afternoon.  I am calling it a Nelson's
gull, a hybrid between glaucous and herring.  It's a first cycle bird that
is rather bulky in structure.  Its wingtips are as dark as the wings rather
than lighter as should be the case with Iceland and glaucous.  It also has a
narrow tail band.  One thing that I found interesting was the bill was
mostly dark and was not that large in size or length.  Some of the 1st cycle
Nelson's I have seen have had a dark tipped pale bill.  I was able to get
some flight shots of the bird.  I'll try and post them later.

At East 72nd I also had two different glaucous and an Iceland.  All were 1st
cycle birds.  The gulls were frightened a number of times by peregrines, a
merlin, and a bald eagle.  As a result most of the big gulls headed out to
the open water on the lake and most of the close birds were ring-bills.

John Pogacnik


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Dubuc" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 1:47 PM
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Gull ID Help - 72nd Street White-winged Gull


> This morning at 72nd Street in Cleveland, I found one second-cycle
> Glaucous
> Gull among the thousands of Ring-billeds, hundreds of Herrings, and dozens
> of Great Black-backed Gulls.  In addition, from 11:00 - 11:30 a.m I
> observed
> the Larus sp. in the photos linked below.
>
> By overall coloration I believe it's a first-cycle bird, with pink legs
> and
> and a mostly black, stout bill.  I observed it in several postures, and
> the
> photos are fairly representative.  Its head was well rounded, in contrast
> to
> the Glaucous I'd been looking at earlier, and it had a chesty appearance.
> Larger than the nearby Ring-billed and with a more substantial build.
> Similar if maybe a bit smaller than Herring.  No photos in flight, but
> when
> it did take off a couple of times, its wingtips and tail were a fairly
> uniform grayish oatmeal color.  Tail coverts appeared intricately
> streaked.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> http://flic.kr/p/9aFv4k
> http://flic.kr/p/9aJDm7
> http://flic.kr/p/9aJDs9
>
> Bird well,
>
> Paul
>
>
> --
> Paul Dubuc,
> Dayton, OH
> at sign beween pauldubuc and gmail dot com
> _____________________________________
> "The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a
> sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing."
> -- Eric Berne
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
> You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]