Grand Central Landfill ~ January 3, 2024

I took a ride up to the Grand Central landfill this afternoon. There was no gull activity that could be seen from the Evergreen Cemetery, so I drove up to their environmental center, parked, and walked over to the gate. From there, I could see most of the gulls, but the distance required a scope to see details on the birds. I found at least two different Iceland Gulls. There was an adult with gray markings on the primaries and at least one first-winter bird. I was able to get a few very distant photos of the first-year bird. The birds are centered in each photo. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it a bit.

First-winter Iceland Gulls

An attempt at a digiscoped photo of the bird in the 2nd photo didn't fare much better.

First-winter Iceland Gull

I also had a bird there that appears to be a "Nelson's" Gull, which is a Herring x Glaucous Gull hybrid.

Look at the light-mantled bird facing left that's just below the bird atop the hill that's facing away. Note its larger size compared to the surrounding Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls, the 'blocky' head, and the gray markings on the primaries, pointing towards this bird likely being a "Nelson's" Gull.

Look at the light-mantled bird facing left that's just below the spread white tail of the Lesser Black-backed Gull in flight. Note its larger size compared to the surrounding Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls and the 'blocky' head, pointing towards this bird likely being a "Nelson's" Gull.

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