Hi -
I tried to send an email to OBOL this afternoon with theabove title, from my
smartass phone. First it :"corrected" Glaucous to Glaucoma, then it decided I
did not mean it when I hit send.
So hereis the gist of it, unfortunately delayed;
This afternoon I located 2 Glaucous Gulls, a beautiful adult, and a first-cycle
bird, in a pasture about 9 miles south of Tillamook. The dairy farmer had just
finished spreading a load of manure, and over 100 gulls were present.
The location was just wast of Hwy 101 (but visible from the hwy) on Yellow Fir
Rd.
The other gulls were about 50% Mew, and 40% Glauceos-winged (+Olympic), with
several each Herring Gulls, and those dark-eyed migrants from eastern Arctic
Canada that are currently mis-classified by the AOU. Nothing dark-backed.
I doubt they will be back at this location tomorrow, but the lesson to take is
that this particular practice - spreading manure - routinely attracts large and
divers flocks of gulls wherever it is done in the Tillamook area. Many of the
dairies seem to be transitioning to other means of manure disposal, but where
it is still spread, it provides a good birding opportunity for Larophiles.
Wayne
