Date: 3/13/26 8:05 pm From: Alan Roedell via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A Gull Named Bob
Eloquent!
On Fri, Mar 13, 2026, 7:25 PM Robert O'Brien via Tweeters <
<tweeters...> wrote:
> AreIs Bob's photos available online somewhere? Seems intriguing.
> Best Regards, Bob from Portland
> Or, preferably, send Bob down here.
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2026 at 7:18 PM Carol Riddell via Tweeters <
> <tweeters...> wrote:
>
>> Hey Tweets,
>>
>> Okay. Showing my age here. How many still alive and still subscribing to
>> Tweeters remember the ID controversy of Bob? Marv Breece does because his
>> excellent photo of Bob appears on page 67 of Gene Hunn’s Birding in Seattle
>> and King County (2d ed.) with some accompanying text on page 68. Bob
>> appeared each winter between 2004 and 2009, in both the Kent Valley and the
>> south end of Lake Washington (Cedar River mouth). Bob always inspired
>> lively debates over his/her ID. Iceland nominate glaucoides? Thayer’s?
>> Kumlien’s? Runt Glaucous Gull? Those were fun times to listen in on the
>> debates of local experts. I don’t think Bob ever got a definitive ID, but
>> Gene Hunn did get in the last word! Those were good times when Tweeters was
>> the definitive place to share and discuss birding information. Now we have
>> eBird, Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups by county, and Tweeters still
>> limping along. I rue the balkanization of our sharing and discussing birds.
>> When everyone came to the discussion table at Tweeters, it allowed new
>> birders to benefit from more experienced birders and for lots of people to
>> get to know each other statewide.
>>
>> It is fun to see that even an expert such as Amar Ayyash is reluctant to
>> give a definitive ID based on the Hadley-Robinson photo of the Cedar River
>> mouth gull. But such fun to puzzle over the photo and to be humbled by gull
>> identification. At least Amar did not offer the possibility of a runt
>> Glaucous Gull! It is an Iceland Gull of some race. Thanks so much Jane, for
>> sharing the photo, the various Tweeters opinions, as well as that of Amar.
>> And I second Jane’s recommendation for his excellent 2024 Gull Guide.
>>
>> Good Birding,
>>
>> Carol Riddell
>> Edmonds, WA
>> cariddellwa at gmail dot com
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