Ornithology 2B Summary

If you miss a class, please check this page and study the listed topics in your field guide. Click here for last year's calendar.

Note: All classes now meet in Room 307 in Marina Middle School. We are no longer in the bungalow.

We completed and reviewed the terns on page 222. A Common Tern photo with detailed ID discussion is here. My photo of a Common Tern is here. Click here for a photo and ID discussion of Arctic Tern.

Please preregister if you plan to enroll in the Fall. Click here for details.

Note: I will be presenting a free program on digiscoping birds at the San Pedro Valley Park Visitor Center at 8pm on Saturday May 17, 2008. Click here for details.

We completed and reviewed the terns on page 220. My photo of Forster's Terns is here.

We completed and reviewed the terns on page 218. My photo of an immature Elegant Tern is here. The ID Frontiers discussion on Sabine's Gull molt is here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 214. Click here and here for Black-legged Kittiwake photos. Click here for a Red-legged Kittiwake photo from Alaska. Sabine's Gull photos are here and here. Ivory Gull photos from Washington are here. Swallow-tailed Gull photos from Monterey are here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 212. My Slaty-backed Gull photos and details are here and here. Click here, here, here and here for additional Slaty-backed Gull photos from California. Slaty-backed Gull photos from Alaska are here. My notes on a possible Slaty-backed Gull at the Salton Sea are here, but I now believe that the bird was likely a Lesser Black-backed Gull or hybrid. Click here for photos and notes on another possible Slaty-backed Gull from Davis. I now believe this bird was a probably a hybrid between Herring Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull. Click here for photos and notes on another possible Slaty-backed Gull from the Salton Sea. I now believe that the bird was not a Slaty-backed, but probably some other Asiatic species or hybrid. Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here for photos and notes on Lesser Black-backed Gulls in California. Additional Lesser Black-backed notes are here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 210. Click here for my photo of a late first cycle Yellow-footed Gull at the Salton Sea.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 208. Click here, here, here, here here and here for photos of Glaucous Gull in California. Click here for a photo of an adult Glaucous Gull in Alaska with identification discussion. Click here, here and here for photos of controversial Glaucous-like gulls in California, which are arguably hybrids between Glaucous and Herring, or Glaucous and Glaucous-winged gulls. Accepted Iceland Gull photos from California are here and here. Photos of an adult Iceland Gull from Washington state are here. Photos of possible Iceland Gulls (all rejected by the California Bird Records Committee) from California are here, here and here. . It is possible these are pale examples of first cycle Thayer's Gulls although all would probably be identified as Iceland Gulls if seen in the East. My photos of Thayer's and Thayer's-like Gulls from Half Moon Bay are here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 206. Click here for my photo of an interesting adult Herring Gull at Half Moon Bay.

Note: Part B (EA115) will start April 2nd. Please register by March 26th to get the early registration discount!

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 204. Here is my photo of a 3rd cycle California Gull. My detailed account of the Belcher's (aka Band-tailed) Gull in San Diego is here. Here is my photo of Kelp Gull from Australia; and here and here are my photos of Kelp Gull from South Africa with notes on distribution and subspecies.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 202. The "Morlan Method" gull identification key with full text is here. Adobe acrobat reader required. An abridged html version is here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 200. Click here for my photos and description of a Black-headed Gull at the Salton Sea. Other Black-headed Gull photos are here and here. Click here, here, here and here for my documentation of Little Gulls in California. Click here and here for additional photos of Little Gulls in California. Photos of the Salton Sea Ross's Gull are here.

We completed and reviewed the gulls on page 198. Franklin's Gull photos are here, here, here, and here. Laughing Gull photos are here and here. My photo of Laughing Gull at the Salton Sea is here. My photo of a 2nd cycle and an adult basic Laughing Gull together in Texas is here, and my photo of a 1st cycle Laughing Gull is here.

Saturday's field trip to Lake Merritt will be held as scheduled.

We completed and reviewed the phalaropes on page 192. My photo of a Red-necked Phalarope at Princeton Marsh is here. My photo of a Red Phalarope at Abbotts Lagoon is here.

We completed the shorebirds on page 190. Stilt Sandpiper photos are here, here, here and here. On 7 September 2003, I managed to get a distant photo of a Stilt Sandpiper at Alviso, Santa Clara County. Click here to test your skill. See if you can pick it out. Click here for details and photos of the American Woodcock at Iron Mountain, California. I co-authored a full article published in "Western Birds" about this bird. A pdf of that article is here.