[birding] Unusual gull and phalarope at Adair STP yesterday

[Joel Geier]

Hi all,

Sorry for the late posting as yesterday afternoon got soaked up by other
matters, but ...

Yesterday morning Bob Altman saw a hooded-type gull along with a
phalarope on the ice at the Adair Village sewage treatment pond. He went
back home to get his scope and called me and we both got back out there
as fast as we could, but the birds were gone.

Bob was sure that the phalarope was a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE based on the
very thin, needle-like bill. So maybe there's one kicking around Benton
County after all.

The GULL was more difficult to place. The way Bob described it to me, it
had a dark marking on the back part of the head, such as on
Bonaparte's/Little/Black-headed/Franklin's gulls in nonbreeding plumage.
The bill was entirely dark and the legs were yellow/orangish rather than
pinkish or red. Immature Bonaparte's might fit but, when Bob saw the
gull alongside the phalarope, his initial impression was of a California
Gull-sized bird. In terms of size, Franklin's or Black-headed seem to
fit but not in terms of bill/leg color. He also gave some thought to
kittiwake but the bird didn't have a collar.

Anyway, consider this a heads up for a couple of good birds that may be
wandering around the mid-valley.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis