Parasitic Jaeger


I couldn’t sit still with so many rare birds present in Texas — especially when one was a first state record Gull !!!! So I opted for Amarillo (rather than RGV at the moment). I put in 8 hours of stakeout time for the Yellow-footed Gull in Amarillo yesterday and today and it paid off…
White Rock spillway in Dallas did Jeff’s Texas gull rule one better: yielding 100% ring billed. I did a little better at lake ray Hubbard this evening. Have a look at these 2 bad, distant digiscoped pix. Thoughts?
Saw a post for this gulls book by Fred Shaffer III and so immediately bought myself a xmas present It’s less dense than all of the other gull books I own and has nice short description and good comparison photos of NA gulls. It doesn’t show all the variations, but for your basic gull book…
Here’s a gull we found towards the end of our time at Texas City Dike on Gulls FT. Who can ID it? (Please stay mum if you were present for the sighting, at least till it is IDed).
Gull #7 (same date location). Gull #7 Forster’s tern (I know – a mean trick as I called it “Gull #7”). Orangey legs, very pointed wing, black ear/eye patch, but back of head is not black (as in Common Tern at this time of year).
Enjoyed myself at the 2024 Gull Frolic north of Chicago last weekend!! Was disappointed there were no Great Black Back Gulls present, but highlights included great looks at both thayeri and kumlieni Iceland gulls, adult and immature and several different ages of lesser Black Back. Apparently the “warm” weather means many gulls were out floating…