[CT Birds] E. Hartford - Gulls

[Dasinger, Andrew M UTPWR]

> From Andrew Dasinger
> 3/19 - East Hartford, near Cabela's - 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull (3rd
> yr) and 1 possible CALIFORNIA Gull (near adult). In a mixed flock of
> gulls congregating in a wet field, between Cabela's and United
> Technologies Research Center.  Viewed from rear parking lot and
> perimeter driveway of United Technologies Research Center.  Gull
> activity had tailed off in the last few days as puddles dried up, but
> the heavy rains yesterday brought in a flock that built up to around
> 150+ gulls in the late afternoon.  (When I arrived in the morning,
> there were zero gulls, so afternoon is definitely the time to look.) 
> 
> I'd appreciate someone with more expertise in the gull department
> checking this out!!  Shouldn't be a problem to drive onto the UTRC
> campus. (Note - I am not at this location today; I'm at my other
> office in S. Windsor)
> 
> Details: After seeing gulls fly in all afternoon from my office, I
> decided to check the flock out after work (having recently seen an
> Iceland Gull in the same spot last week).  I would estimate there were
> 80% Herring Gulls, 10% Great Black-backed, and 10% Ring-billed in the
> flock.  Some birds were actively bathing in puddles (despite the
> rain), others were loafing in loose flocks (but not sleeping), a few
> (Ring-billeds) were foraging in the grass for food, and several
> (Herring) were pulling up clumps of dead grass (premonitions of nest
> building?). To be perfectly honest, I don't have a great deal of
> patience for sifting through gull flocks, but the location is
> convenient and I could scan from my car.
> 
> During a scan of the flock (gulls continued to arrive in ones and
> twos), one bird immediately caught my attention.  It was intermediate
> in size between Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, though more toward the
> Herring gull end of the spectrum.  It was walking around quite a bit,
> more so that the other gulls, although I didn't see it pick up any
> food items.  Besides the size, what struck me were the exceptionally
> long primary projections (well beyond the end of the tail) and a
> mantle color that was a shade darker than the Herring Gulls.  (By the
> way, I should mention that I was without a scope; all observations
> were with my old 10x Nikons I leave in the car. I estimate that at
> various times the bird in question was 100 to 200 feet away, so
> viewing even with just binoculars was actually pretty good.)  The bird
> looked to be close to adult - the only reason I hesitate is that there
> seemed to be some mottling in the feather coloration on the back.
> Another difference in comparison to the Herring Gulls was that this
> bird appeared shorter necked as it waddled around.  I couldn't get a
> good look at leg color - my impression was of gray or gray brown.  The
> head was more or less white - but I did pick up what looked like faint
> streaking behind the eye.  The bill was yellow, with a red gonys spot.
> Again, with only binoculars I couldn't see any more detail on the bill
> markings or the eye. On the primaries it looked like there was a
> larger spot on the outermost primary and then small spots on the tips
> of the other primaries.  When sitting with wings folded, the primary
> tips showed as small white spots.  After it splashed around in a
> puddle for a while, I also got a quick look of it in flight showing
> this pattern.  The tail was white and unmarked.  Definitely an
> intriguing bird. 
> 
>