[texbirds] A funny gull story from Lubbock

From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 13:27:27 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings All:
This is a cautionary story about snap identification that some might find 
amusing.


There is a loafing site at Lake Six - just downstream from Martin Luther King 
Avenue - that is favored by gulls most winters.  I always look through the 
gulls in hopes that someday I might find something other than a Ring-billed 
Gull.  I just have this wishful feeling (desperate hope) that this might be a 
good spot for a Mew Gull to hang out, probably undetected, some winter.  We do 
occasionally see other species along Lake Six - they just never seem to loaf at 
this particular site, preferring, for the most part, the boat docks further 
downstream.  I am pretty sure that I have looked at this particular cluster of 
gulls well over 100 times over the last fifteen years and it has always been 
wall-to-wall Ring-billed Gulls?

Along about 12:45 this afternoon I pull up to the site, with little hope in my 
heart, and quickly tally up 4 Gadwall, 6 Northern Shovelers, and 21 gulls - 18 
of which are immediately apparent as Ring-billed Gulls and 3 of which are not.  
'What's this' - I say to myself - 'am I finally seeing another species of gull 
at the loafing site.'  The other three gulls are all smaller than the 
Ring-billed Gulls but they all have their heads tucked.  I roll down the window 
to get a better look and, almost immediately, up pops one head: a wee, tiny, 
little head with a prominent black dot behind the eye and a very thin, black 
bill - Woo Hoo - adult winter Bonaparte's Gull and a pretty good bird for 
Lubbock in for this late in March as the species has usually bailed from our 
region by late February/early March.  The other two birds resolutely keep their 
heads tucked but there heads seem smudgier towards the nape and - neglecting, 
of course, the darker mantles - I
 immediately reach out to several other local birders and excitedly report 1 
adult winter and 2 first winter Bonaparte's Gulls.

Oops.  The incredible unlikelihood of finding three species of gulls at one 
site anywhere in Lubbock has led me to jump to a two species conclusion (error 
one - just because they are loafing together does not make them birds of a 
feather) and the urge to get some other eyes on the birds has led me to call in 
reinforcements (error two - probably best to wait until one has either 
solidified one's identification or one has become completely mystified before 
calling for back-up).  Error three, overlooking the obviously different mantle 
color, is the whiffiest but I've already confessed so let's let it be.


As soon as I have called in 'the boys' I get out of the car, intending to get a 
little closer and make sure that I have absolutely got the age of all three 
Bonaparte's Gulls down.  I close the car door as gently as possible but, boom, 
the other two heads pop up and I realize that I am looking at 18 Ring-billed 
Gulls, 1 adult winter Bonaparte's Gulls, and 2 very smudgy first cycle 
Franklin's Gulls - smaller than the Ring-billed Gulls but bigger-headed, 
heavier-billed and (duh) darker-mantled than the Bonaparte's Gull and much 
likelier in late March.


At this point, I made damn sure that I had ruled out any other species (I would 
hate to overlook Lubbock's first Little Gull and who knows what kind of abuse I 
would have to endure if the boys had come out and turned my Franklin's Gulls 
into Laughing Gulls).  Fortunately, the three small gulls and about half of the 
Ring-billed Gulls had been disturbed by somebody jogging along the shore and 
provided nice looks at their wings as they flew across MLK to Mae Simmons Park 
where they parked their butts amongst some geese.


I immediately call the boys and report a) my error and b) that the birds have 
moved upstream to Mae Simmons Park.

It is one thing to eat crow but having to eat gull was a bit painful:)

Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock

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[texbirds] A funny gull story from Lubbock

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