Glaucous-winged Gull in St. Louis County
2012-01-10

'Accidental' in Minnesota - Five or fewer records in St. Louis County for the Winter season

After a week-long hiatus in early January, the adult Glaucous-winged Gull first found by Karl J. Bardon 22 December 2011 has once again been seen consistently at Canal Park, Duluth. Although it has been reported at WLSSD / 27th Avenue West and on the harbor ice near the DECC and Bayfront Park, Canal Park has been the most consistent location and the best time is early afternoon, especially around 2:00 PM. In this image, note dorsal and ventral wing tip patterns, and wing shape with broad "arms" and broad white trailing edge. White subapical tongue tips on p6-p8 and mirrors on p9 and p10 are visible on both surfaces of the wing. The shadow on the ventral surface of the near wing was caused by another gull flying over the Glaucous-winged. Although its wing pattern, smooth head streaking, and mantle shade slightly darker than adult Herring Gull are distinctive, observers are cautioned to exercise care when identifying this gull. I am aware of at least five occasions when the third-cycle Iceland Gull depicted at http://moumn.org/cgi-bin/rqd.pl?rec_id=1252 has been misidentified as a Glaucous-winged.

Peder H. Svingen