Date: 3/13/25 1:44 pm From: Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...> Subject: [NEBirds] Lancaster County Gull flock
Nebraska birders,
Today I went to Marsh Wren wetland over my lunch break hoping for a first-of-year Greater Yellowlegs, Blue-winged Teal, or Wood Duck and instead ran into a massive flock of 1200+ gulls. They were streaming in from the direction of the city dump, and loafing about on the eastern pond of the wetland.
After walking down the trail to get the gulls in good light, I began scanning and immediately spotted a first cycle *Glaucous Gull!* Perhaps the same bird that has been seen at Pawnee and Branched Oak in the past few days. I also found 2 adult and 2 juvenile *Lesser Black-backed Gulls* mixed throughout. After about 10 minutes of scanning I got in my binoculars what at first looked like another Glaucous Gull, but as it landed I noticed, it was a bit smaller with an all black bill. A *Kumlien's Iceland Gull*, a quite rare subspecies for the state (we usually get Thayer's).
Finally, as icing on the cake, I noticed a dark-mantled gull similar in size to Ring-billed, and after closer inspection I ticked my county first *California Gull!* Definitely my best gull checklist in Lancaster county, and maybe even the state.
By the time I left, half of the flock (including the Glaucous) had taken off for the dump again. Perhaps they will show up again at Marsh Wren, or at Oak lake, Capitol beach, or somewhere else. Photos and final tallies can be found on my ebird checklist. https://ebird.org/checklist/S218281421
