Thayer's Gull

Michael and I found this Thayer's Gull at West Point Lake Dam in Georgia on 11/12/04. There are no records of Thayer's Gull for GA. This is an excellent site for gulls though they can be hard to see up close. I have not birded this lake much over the years but have discovered here recently: Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. Bonaparte's, Herring, Laughing, and Franklin's are becoming increasingly reliable at this site. I recently had about 20 Laughing Gulls at once, but that is unusual. Michael Beohm had 50+ Laughing Gulls after one of the Hurricanes as well as pelagics like Sooty Tern. Other birders from GA and AL have had some great finds here.

My $200 camera actually did a good job at capturing critical field marks. The bird was lighter than what is in these photos. The photos don't capture the neatly patterned mantle, which was present, but that's ok. I did not lighten up or add contrast to the photos.

The bird was studied at fairly close range, and all field marks including wing pattern were seen.

Note the structure, which is similar to Iceland Gull.

The round head with peaked forehead create a gentle, innocent expression.

The tertials and the primaries can be seen.

Note the pale edging to the primaries.

Michael Beohm and I found a juvenile plumaged THAYER'S GULL at West Point Dam Friday morning, 11/12/04. The bird was above the dam on the water beside the boom. It perched atop the boom at one point. The bird was present for about 30 minutes before flying west out of sight (into Alabama). That was the only time we saw it there despite being there for several hours.

Thayer's Gull is not on the official GA list, though there have been reports in the surrounding states.

Bare in mind that Thayer's Gulls look something like Herring Gulls. Herring Gulls are at this location and can show many variations, so keep that in mind if you look for the bird.

Description:

Size of a small Herring Gull. There were Herrings to compare it with.

Head round at all times and peaked in front.

Bill not large. Consistent with Thayer's range, but not stubby. The bill was black.

Color of the bird was a light brownish-gray with a touch of a frosty appearance.

Mantle was neatly checkered. Scapulars were dark centered.

Tertials were dark centered like shown in the Sibley book under "paler juvenile".

The tertials were not darker than the body.

The primaries on the sitting bird were darker than the body and appeared dark brown with light fringes.

The bird spread its wings a number of times and we could see:

what Sibley describes as the "dark outer webs of the primaries" (the effect of which were quite noticeable).

The underside of the primaries were light, unlike Herring Gull, with a very narrow dark trailing edge.

The secondaries were not dark like with Herring Gull.

The tail was a dark brown but not as dark as Herring Gull.

The darker primaries, webbing in primaries, dark centered tertials, and darker tail eliminated Iceland Gull from consideration.

Other birds at West Point:

Bonaparte's Gulls

Herring Gulls

Forster's Terns

Common Loons (30+)

Horned Grebe

Bald Eagles (4+)

Ospreys

handful of ducks

We then went down to Water F. George Reservoir:

LAUGHING GULL (10+)

SPOTTED SANDPIPER (2)

BALD EAGLE (about 8)

COMMON LOON (1)

handful of ducks and such

Good birding,

Eric Beohm

Griffin, GA