THAYER'S GULL, Windsor Landfill - Dec 12

12/12: I'll be out of town for much of the next 5 days (with only intermittent laptop access) but wanted to post these images of this interesting Thayer's-type bird from the Windsor Landfill today. Found the bird at noon, had it in view for ~2 mins before it flew down towards the Farmington River, ran back to the car to jot down notes and a flight sketch (wingtip looked good for Thayer's from both above and below), then searched for two more hours without success.
Images in no particular order:


Rear bird





Left-center. Mantle color was a tad darker than surrounding HEGUs, but by a very slight amount. Decent general comparison to nearby HEGUs.





Dark iris, but when the light hit it just right I could see that it was a touch paler than the jet-black pupil.







Close-ups of wingtip. Primary tips were black (very HEGU-like).


Nice example of the bird's expression. Note the dark eye, forehead sloping into bill with yellow-green base, and soft/blurry streaking through the head onto the nape and breast. Orbital ring in the field was viewed as deep red-pink.



Pink legs.



No sign of any blackish markings on the bill.




Just for fun, here's a pic of a dark-eyed "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull that was also present:



And a first-winter Glaucous Gull:



- Nick

Comments

  1. James P. SmithDecember 12, 2008 at 9:37 PM

    Congratulations Nick! This looks fantastic - just the sort of bird that I'd have loved to have found locally. I think I need to study your technique a bit more. What is it now - two visits to the landfill this fall and two 'mega' gulls. Nice work indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Luke TillerDecember 12, 2008 at 9:40 PM

    Certainly looks more than interesting Nick. Let another ID Frontiers discussion begin!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BenDecember 13, 2008 at 11:26 AM

    It has a lot of black on the wingtip. Aside from that, it looks pretty classic for Thayer's. I'd like to see a spread wing though. I've seen a grand total of 1 adult Thayer's Gull, so take my opinion for what it is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dawn FineDecember 13, 2008 at 9:40 PM

    Great find..

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 17, 2008 at 9:46 AM

    I just found your site.
    Great stuff.

    ReplyDelete

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