[mou] Clay County California Gull

[robert.oconnor@ndsu.edu]

Hi,

The Clay County California Gull discovered by Ben Fritchman and Bob Dunlap
and mentioned in a previous post was still being seen as of 2:30 PM today
(Sunday), but in a slightly different spot.  Several of us, including a
group led by Kim Eckert, converged on the area at the same time and were
redirected to the alternative site by a local landowner.  About an eighth
or a quarter mile south of the entrance to the landfill mentioned in the
earlier message, a single-lane gravel road climbs a hill to the east and
drops down into a quarry with a pond at the bottom.  This is a few hundred
yards short of  an east-west north-south road junction.  The California
Gull was with a flock of 30 or so Ring-billed Gulls resting in this quarry
pond.  It stood out from the other gulls most noticably because of the
brown area on its face and neck and its larger size.  The gray mantle was
a little darker than the gray mantles of the adjacent gulls, and its legs
were a kind of greenish blue.  With a really good telescope, the dark eye
was apparent, and the red spot of the lower mandible was visible near the
dark bill tip.

It was great luck having birders with good telescopes show up when I
realized my binoculars weren't going to do the job.  And without Kim there
pointing out fieldmarks, I'm sure I wouldn't have felt comfortable with
the difficult ID.

Bob O'Connor
Moorhead