Fw: SLATY-BACKED GULL AT CAPE POINT

["John Fussell" <jfuss@clis.com>]

I forget what the carolinabirds rule is for forwarding reports, but I'll
try forwarding this.

John Fussell
Morehead City, NC
jfuss@clis.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Derb Carter" <derbc@selcnc.org>
To: <jfuss@clis.com>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 4:20 PM
Subject: FW: SLATY-BACKED GULL AT CAPE POINT


> John -- Will is out.  Can you send the message below to Cbirds.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Derb Carter
> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 10:28 AM
> To: cwcook@duke.edu
> Subject: SLATY-BACKED GULL AT CAPE POINT
>
> Will -- please forward to Carolinabirds.
>
> 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
>
>
>
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