From MTHEINDEL@aol.com Mon Feb 23 17:18:42 1998

Let me give some detail on the SBGU from Salton Sea on Saturday. Michael Patten and I have just reviewed the slides that I was able to get and are quite happy with what we are seeing. Some details on the location- the bird was at Johnson's Landing, at Salton City. We had it with hundreds of other gulls and watched it on and off for well over an hour.

It was sitting with Herring Gulls primarily, but also with Cal Gulls. It was obviously a dark gull with pink legs. The leg color was similar to the HEGU. The bold white tertial spots contrasted with the dark gray uppers. The white head was streaked, particularly on the nape. Close views showed dark smudges around the eye. The eye itself was pale, but not as pale as the nearby Herring Gulls. (MAP suggested cream in describing the color which is well within range). The orbital was scarlet red. The bill was particularly different, being a very pale yellow or cream. In our discussions while with the bird we vacillated with colors of the bill with phrases like greenish gray or white-horn tones. In other words, this was not your basic yellow bill that we are used to seeing. From a distance it was pale enough to recall the basal color of a Cal Gull bill. The photos show a bill far different than all other
'adult' gulls to raise suspicion. It had a blackish mark next to the red spot, like 4W Herring Gulls. (The extent to which this might make the bill, legs and eye color somewhat paler than those of definitive basic adults is unknown.) To the wings- I was photographing the bird as it soared in circles above us (it was cooperative for two minutes) and although this does not allow for studies (as panic to focus takes over) I could see a very silvery pattern. The photos show the dark secondaries shared by dark-mantled species and more importantly show a primary pattern that should clinch the ID. White subterminal spots are noted on the key feathers and the silvery undersides are obvious.

As to whether this bird will be around, who knows? They certainly withdraw from southern latitudes in Asia from late Feb to early March. In addition, there are mega-thousands of gulls at the sea and we have no way of knowing how territorial this bird has been (as opposed to the Lesser black-backed Gulls which appear to be cemented in place).

As for Doug Shaw's bird, it sounds like the adult Western Gull which has been in the area according to Patten. We missed this bird and it is a very good bird for the region. It does not sound to me like the above bird.

I am sure we will get lots of questions and we can provide more detail as necessary. If I can make a suggesiton in a related field, I would strongly encourage birders to look at the 1W Lesser Black-backed at Obsidian Butte.

Although not as easy to find or identify as the Sprague's Pipits or adult Lesser Black-backeds that people are chasing, this is a great opportunity to study a difficult plumage.

Matt Heindel
mtheindel @aol.com
Irvine CA
Michael A. Patten
patten @ citrus.ucr.edu
Riverside CA