[mou] Nelson's Gull

Michael Hendrickson smithville4@charter.net
Sat, 6 Dec 2003 01:30:54 -0600


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Hello:

Well its very late and I justly got back from Mpls. and I felt I needed =
to respond about the gull before some try to look for it on Sat. Wow its =
already Saturday!

Well I was driving along Black Dog Rd. and I ran into Connie Brunnel and =
her friend Leslie on the east side of the power plant looking at gulls =
on the coal pile. I was here to look for a Lesser-Black-backed Gull and =
I was hoping they were staring at one on top of the coal pile. When I =
got out they said "hi" and told me there is a 2nd winter Glaucous Gull =
in view.

Connie got on this odd looking gull and soon I got on it and Connie =
noticed the light grey wing tips when the gull stretched its wing. I =
watched it for awhile and knew this could not be a Thayer's Gull because =
it was to damn big. It was 1-2 inched larger in height vs. any nearby =
Herring Gull nearby. When I finally saw the wing tips and noticed how =
barrel chested this gull looked I called Tony. I than began to take =
notes on everything about the gull. I called Tony again and said " I =
feel pretty confidant this is a Glaucous-winged Gull or some kind of =
hybrid but feel its a Glaucous-winged". I began to take more notes and =
decided to call Kim Eckert. At this moment I never really had a good =
look of the eye. So while talking to Kim while looking thru Connie's =
scope with her scoped zoomed into the eye (my scope is only a 30x eye =
piece) and I told Kim this gull definitely had a light yellow iris and =
not a dark iris. Kim said " sounds like you got a hybrid gull".=20

So we studied the gull some more and this time it finally gave us a side =
view and I noticed the upper wing tips were a light charcoal color with =
some large white mirrors on the tips. I was about to sketch each wing =
primary when the gull turned back and faced us giving us frontal views =
again. Also during a few times the gull stretched its wing the =
underneath pattern was very white with some light grey on the primaries. =
I was given only a few seconds to view this but it wasn't black or dark =
grey. So I called Tony back and told him its definitely a hybrid gull =
because of the light yellow iris as adult winter Glaucous-winged Gulls =
should have dark iris and this bird lacked that.

When all was done I gave my 3 pages of notes to Kim Eckert for him to =
share with other MOURC members at thier meeting this Sunday. If anyone =
see this bird please take pics of it. Also I was told there are a few =
adult Thayer's gulls so be careful and look at the iris of anything that =
looks like a adult Thayer's Gull.

Mike Hendrickson
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<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
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<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1276" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hello:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Well its very late and I justly got =
back from Mpls.=20
and I felt I needed to respond about the gull before some try to look =
for it on=20
Sat. Wow its already Saturday!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Well I was driving along Black Dog Rd. =
and I ran=20
into Connie Brunnel and her friend Leslie on the east side of the power =
plant=20
looking at gulls on the coal pile. I was here to look for a =
Lesser-Black-backed=20
Gull and I was hoping they were staring at one on top of the&nbsp;coal =
pile.=20
When I got out they said "hi" and told me there is a 2nd winter=20
Glaucous&nbsp;Gull in view.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Connie got on this odd looking gull and =
soon I got=20
on it and Connie noticed the light grey wing tips when the gull =
stretched its=20
wing. I watched it for awhile and knew this could not be a Thayer's Gull =
because=20
it was to damn big. It was 1-2 inched larger in height vs. any nearby =
Herring=20
Gull nearby. When I finally saw the wing tips and noticed how barrel =
chested=20
this gull looked I called Tony. I than began to take notes on everything =
about=20
the gull. I called Tony again and said " I feel pretty confidant this is =
a=20
Glaucous-winged Gull or some kind of hybrid but feel its a =
Glaucous-winged". I=20
began to take more notes and decided to call Kim Eckert. At this moment =
I never=20
really had a good look of the eye. So while talking to Kim while looking =
thru=20
Connie's scope with her scoped zoomed into the eye (my scope is only a =
30x eye=20
piece) and I told Kim this gull definitely had a light yellow iris and =
not a=20
dark iris. Kim said " sounds like you got a hybrid gull". </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>So we studied the gull some more and =
this time it=20
finally gave us a side view and I noticed the upper wing tips were a =
light=20
charcoal color with some large white mirrors on the tips. I was about to =
sketch=20
each wing primary when the gull turned back and faced us giving us =
frontal views=20
again. Also during a few times the gull stretched its wing the =
underneath=20
pattern was very white with some light grey on the primaries. I was =
given only a=20
few seconds to view this but it wasn't black or dark grey. So I called =
Tony back=20
and told him its definitely a hybrid gull because of the light yellow =
iris as=20
adult winter Glaucous-winged Gulls should have dark iris and this bird =
lacked=20
that.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>When all was done I gave my 3 pages of =
notes to Kim=20
Eckert for him to share with other MOURC members at thier meeting this =
Sunday.=20
If anyone see this bird please take pics of it. Also I was told there =
are a few=20
adult Thayer's gulls so be careful and look at the iris of anything that =
looks=20
like a adult Thayer's Gull.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Mike =
Hendrickson</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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