23 January 2017 - Gulling

One of the things that started me down this new birding path I am on, was a tiny one inch article that appeared in the Tribune shortly after I moved back to Salt Lake. The article was an invitation to go on a Gullstravaganza put on by the Audubon Society. It went on to say come join us to look for gulls, we may see as many as seven species.  Huh.  My first thought was "Gulls?  Not seagulls?"  And my second thought was "There are more than one?"  Who knew? 

I went. It was a cold day in January. Turns out that the Great Salt Lake corridor is kind of a mecca for wintering gulls. And we saw thousands of gulls. Only four species, but it turns out they show up in large numbers for the winter here. I also learned that it can take up to three years for the juvenile/immature gulls to acquire the adult coloration. Good grief. Once again, who knew? The variations in the first and second year plumage make it that much harder to identify these birds. At least for me. 

But I was reviewing my life list the other day and realized in the last couple years I have seen 15 species of gulls. There are (I think) 28 species of gulls in North America, so I still have more to see, but that involves traveling.  I may end up doing some coastal birding trips one day. 

So here is a quick trip through some gull species I have seen. 

Heermann's Gull This is one of my favorites. I love the overall gray with the brilliant red bill. 

Mew Gull - adult. This is a very dainty gull. One of the smaller gulls, with a tiny little bill. Very sweet. 

Mew Gull - juvenile

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Black-headed Gull. There is a category of black-headed gulls. I like them all, but these are special with those bright orange legs and bill. 

Bonaparte's Gull non-breeding plumage. In breeding plumage they have black heads. 

Franklin's Gulls. All the brown specks are brine flies. These gulls will line the shore and stand there with their mouths open, flies go right in. Funny to watch. During breeding season their heads are all black. This photo was taken in July when they are starting to lose their black head coloration. 

Glaucous Gull. The largest gull, easily spotted as it is big and white. It towers over the nearby California gulls.

Glaucous-winged Gull

Iceland Gull. This is the bird in the center with the black bill. It is a rare visitor to Utah with one or two seen each winter.  Very pale brown in this juvenile coloration.

Herring Gulls are also a large gull. I just recently learned (and saw) that they will kill and eat ducks.  These two brown speckled birds are juvenile first year birds. California gulls are in front. 

 

Thayer's Gull juvenile

Western Gull adult

Western gull- 2nd winter

Western gull - 1st winter, the dark bird in the center.

Sabine's Gull. This is one of the smallest gulls and most striking. In flight it has boldly patterned wings.

California Gull

Always looking for the next one! 

14 January 2017 - Inversions and Hoar Frost

The Salt Lake valley suffers from winter inversions. 

Normal atmospheric conditions are cool air above and warm air below. During an inversion these conditions flip trapping a dense layer of cold air under a layer of warm air. The warm layer acts much like a lid, trapping pollutants in the cold air near the valley floor. In the valley, you are grayed out. No sky, no sun. Just gray, or gray with fog. And with the pollutants trapped low as well, you get what my brother calls "chewy air."  Here is what an inversion looks like from the mountains looking across the valley. The entire valley is smogged in. You wouldn't know there was a city all the way to the far mountains. 

But the upside of this rather awful stuff is hoar frost. I love hoar frost. It is a crystalline deposit of frozen water vapor that often happens during our inversions and fogs. It is an amazingly beautiful phenomenon. Sometimes the entire landscape is nothing but ethereal gray and white. You have to enjoy every second of it, because the minute the sun touches it, it disappears. Sometimes it covers every surface, nook and cranny. Other times it just outlines an object. You never know what you'll get, other than it will be beautiful. 

 

This next one is a little leftover piece of a spiderweb hanging from my porch ceiling--totally covered in hoar frost.

This might, at first glance, look like a fresh layer of snow, but it is a very heavy layer of hoar frost.