I found one of the 1st winter Franklin's Gulls this morning at the Prince
William Co. Landfill. Third time's a charm. I arrived about 9:30 a.m. and by
9:45
a.m. the bird *jumped out* at me with the extensive black half hood and
booming white eye crescents. Very noticeable! I'm not sure if this bird was the
same one Steve Rottenborn saw on Sat. I looked over the photos he sent (thanks,
Steve) and it seems to me that the half hood I saw today was a little more
extensive than the ones in the photos. Today's bird also showed the advanced
upper
wing molt (gray upperwing coverts) that Sue Heath's and Steve's birds had. I
was able to watch the bird in good light for 40 minutes as it preened. During
that time, I noticed the smaller bill with the less prominent hook, slightly
smaller, rounded head, shorter legs than Laughing Gull, small white apical
spots on the primaries, and the narrow dark tail band with white outer tail
feathers. It finally flew so I was able to get a better look at the tail
pattern. As
with Sue's and Steve's birds, this bird had the whitish hindneck, not the
grayish, brown wash of the 1st winter Laughing Gull. Like Sue's bird, this one
had very faint black streaking on the hindneck so there wasn't the obvious
contrast I was expecting, also.
Perhaps there's a fourth Franklin's Gull at the landfill?
Laura Catterton
Manassas, Virginia
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