Hello Darrel. Thought I'd send this to you and Chuck? before posting to
OBOL. Waiting to hear back. Bob
------------------TO OBOL-----------------
Well, I dunno. The Siberian race of BH Gull does not always show the black
tip. And that's what we would expect here.
Also the primary projection looks too long for Bonapardt's Gull to me.
Are there flight shots? That would tell in a moment as BH Gull has
partially dark underwings and Bonapardt's not.
My $0.02.
Bob OBrien Carver OR
On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 4:09 PM Elizabeth Holencik <eholencik@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Yesterday morning, Chuck Philo, photographed an unusual gull at Hatfield
Marine Science Center shed. Several excited discussions followed as the
photos appeared to show a Black-headed gull based on the reddish/orange
bill. However, as more birders analyzed the photos it was determined that
this was a Bonaparte’s gull with a rare colored bill. Special thanks to
Nick Mrvelj for entering the discussion and providing photographs of
similar unusual Bonaparte’s gulls. One feature that stood out is that this
Bonaparte’s gull did not have any black on the bill tip. A BHGU would have
had some black.
Chuck Philo asked me to post this information on OBOL because he wanted to
share what he learned with others. He also apologizes for getting peoples
hopes up about a BHGU, but I don’t think an apology is necessary. The day
still ended with a pretty cool bird find!
Happy Birding,
Liz Holencik
Tidewater, OR
Sent from my iPad
