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SLATY-BACKED GULL AT CAPE POINT



FYI - Jeff Pippen and the Moores looked for this bird again on Monday and did 
not relocate it.  However, they did find a California Gull.  The Black 
Guillemot at Kill Devil Hills was not relocated on Sunday or Monday, but wind 
and high waves made searching very difficult, so it could easily still be in 
the area.

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Derb Carter" <derbc@msn.com>
Subject: SLATY-BACKED GULL AT CAPE POINT
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 10:28:56 -0500

Ricky Davis, Jeff Pippen and I observed an adult Slaty-backed Gull at Cape 
Hatteras Point yesterday early afternoon.  It was in the vicinity of the 
"fish dump pond" on the south facing beach about 3/4 mile from the Point.  We 
saw all the key field marks for Slaty-backed Gull:  approximately the size of 
a Herring Gull; mantle dark gray close to or slightly darker than graellsii 
Lesser Black-backed; head mostly white with some streaking around the eye; 
eye (iris) yellow; bill yellow with red gonys spot; legs pink; "diagnostic" 
white spots ("string of pearls") separating distinctly gray under primaries 
from narrow black primary tips very evident (not as evident from above) 
(under primaries identical to Fig. 10 in the August 1994 Birding article on 
Slaty-backed id); noticeably broad white trailing edge to wing.  We observed 
the bird sitting and twice in flight.  The last flight was out over the ocean 
off the south beach.  We searched the remainder of the afternoon but could 
not relocate the gull.  Jeff stayed over until today and is working the Point 
and will call if he relocates the Slaty-backed.

Other interesting gulls at the Point yesterday included one adult and two 
first year Thayer's Gulls, Little Gull, about 12 Lesser Black-backed, one or 
two "Nelson's Gulls" (Glaucous x Herring hybrids), a couple of probable 
Lesser x Herring hybrids, and a large leucistic nearly completely white gull 
with black bill that may be a Great Black-backed.   

Derb Carter
Raleigh NC

------- End of forwarded message -------
-- 
Charles W. "Will" Cook                  w 919-660-7423
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook            cwcook@duke.edu
Box 90340, Biology Dept., Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708