[birding] Western Gull(s) & Greater Scaup at Coffin Butte Regional Landfill

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

At lunchtime today I packed along the scope and walked out Coffin Butte
Rd. west of the landfill. About 72 gulls were resting in their favorite
field. Most were HERRING GULLS but there were a few GLAUCOUS-WINGED
(most of them youngsters) and THAYER'S GULLS (some adults and probably a
few immatures), plus a dozen or so CALIFORNIA GULLS hanging out in the
back.

A couple of the pink-footed gulls (or maybe the same one seen twice
while I scanned through the flock, since they were extremely similar and
I lost track of where I saw the first one) showed all marks of being
adult northern-race WESTERN GULLS, even though their medium-gray mantles
were on the pale side for this species (barely darker than some of the
nearby Herring & Thayer's Gulls). Very heavy bill, dark iris, clean
white, angular head, blackish wingtips with white spots.

I didn't see any good candidates for Glaucous Gull or Slaty-backed Gull.
There was one very light, somewhat blotchy young gull but its primaries
were as dark or darker than the leading part of the wing, so I think it
was a young Herring or Glaucous-winged.

I made the mistake of bringing a gel pen which was nearly useless for
making notes in the drizzle that was going on, but roughly speaking I'd
say the breakdown of the flock was about 45-50 Herring Gulls, 10-12
California Gulls, 6-8 Thayer's Gulls, 4 or 5 Glaucous-winged Gulls, and
the 1 (or 2?) Western Gull(s).

Back on Toketie Marsh, a pair of GREATER SCAUP were cruising around with
the RING-NECKED DUCKS and a couple of LESSER SCAUP. The male had very
clean flanks and a lightly barred back, and at one point stretched out
his wing showing white well past the midpoint of the wingstripe on the
trailing edge, also a pretty wide dark "nail" on the tip of the bill.
The female cruising around with him was noticeably larger than the other
two female scaup, and looked slightly bigger than the Ring-necked
Ducks. 

All of the scaup were noticeably on edge with me and Heidi standing
there, so it was hard to be sure about the head profiles (if you look on
p. 93 of the Sibley Guide to Birds, all of the scaup showed head
profiles like the second row of profiles, with feathers raised near the
rear of the head).

A male BREWER'S BLACKBIRD was vocalizing a bit while walking around in
the grass by the upper pond. I'd only been seeing Red-winged Blackbirds
around the marsh in recent weeks, but this is the time when Brewer's
Blackbirds seem to start courtship around this pond.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis