After going through my photos, I think there may actually be 2 distinct
California gulls! The one I saw yesterday had a much cleaner breeding
plumage with a more white bill tip, and the one from Thursday and today
seems to have some scruffier molt feathers on the head and a yellow-tipped
bill. Unfortunately we didn't ever have 2 in the scope at the same time
today.
On Thu, Mar 13, 2025, 3:44 PM Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> 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 >
> Tobin Brown
> Lancaster County
>
>
>
