For those who don't have an iOs device, or just want to see what it looks like without downloading, here are the first looks at eBirds new mobile app called, "eBird Mobile" from the beta release going on right now.  The following is in the release from Team eBird:

Regular users of BirdLog will find that this app works much the same, with a few key improvements. The goal of the eBird app is to make a single, global data entry app for eBird. Using the former BirdLog code as a base, we transferred the existing functionality into the Lab’s development environment, solidified and consolidated the code, rebranded the app, performed some basic bug fixes, and made it free. Subsequent iterations of the app will focus on reworking the user interface, translations, and improving data out functionality. We have also begun development work for Android, and eBird Mobile should be available on that platform in the coming months.

What’s new with eBird Mobile?

• Free – eBird Mobile is free.
• Single global version – The eBird mobile app is available in a single consolidated version that works anywhere on earth.
• Expanded languages – Offers species common names in many local language options, in parallel with the eBird web site. Four-letter quick entry based on common name and scientific name for all taxa globally, as on eBird.
• Show rarities – Rare species are now indicated on the checklist view, prompting observers to provide more detail.
• Refined start up screen – The ‘home page’ of the app has been reworked from a usability standpoint, making it clear how to get started entering data.
• Continuity – App updates don’t cause you to lose existing unsubmitted lists or personal locations and startup is not delayed by taxonomic updates.
• Data quality improvements – The app more closely matches functionality of eBird web for protocols, and prompts users to be more precise about location plotting.
• Trip summary – Improved trip summary functionality makes keeping track of your trip list and day list fast and simple.

So here are the screenshots--I'll post a review of the app after I've tinkered with it a bit... The only thing I will say is I expected a better UI and experience right off the bat, hopefully performance is there to make up for the above...

As I left my house at 5:00am it was in a down pour... Things were not looking good.  As I picked up my cohort Jeff in downtown Salt Lake, it was a torrential down pour... things could only get better.  The drive into Davis County was wet wet wet.  And as we got breakfast it seemed to get even wetter. Finally arriving at the Legacy Events Center to meet out group the rain was still coming down; but it seemed to have lightened a little--and to the west there was a shimmer of hope that the clouds would part and the weather might turn for the better. We kept our expectations reasonable--the rain could definitely damper our efforts--it was probably snowing above 8,000' so our mountain birding could definitely be rough.  This was going to be a wet and wild Marathon Birding Trip.

Everyone that ended up going on the trip was on time and in the vehicles; but 2 participants didn't show up, and we wasted 15 minutes waiting and trying to get a hold of them--in the end we left late, and without the 2 no-shows.  In the parking lot the first birds of the day were a flyover flock of WHITE-FACED IBIS; and singing AMERICAN ROBIN, HOUSE FINCH, and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. We wasted no time making our way to Glover Lane, where birds were singing as if it were sunny and warm. COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and YELLOW WARBLER were heard quickly. Sitting in the middle of a wet field was an easy to watch BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, while the ponds at the end of the lane provided the usual share of waterfowl and waterbirds--we were underway and I personally didn't mind the rain since the birding was off to a good start.

At Farmington Bay the gates were locked as usual and it took a few minutes to get in.  We were greeted by a GREAT EGRET in the pond to the east, as well as COMMON GOLDENEYE, and 100's of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS.  Behind the restrooms 2 WOOD DUCKS were nice to get out of the way.  We snagged both SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL calling from the reeds, and CASPIAN and FORSTER's TERNS overhead. At Egg Island Overlook a very wet SWAINSON'S HAWK posed  for the group int he small trees. Scoping form here we picked out a small group of 7 RED KNOTS to the southwest--a fortuitous find as we would have none at the causeway later.  We quickly nabbed our waterfowl needs and got a bonus PEREGRINE FALCON before turning around and heading out.  Along the way we added LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, and SANDHILL CRANE. We were glad to get both NORTHERN SHOVELER and AMERICAN WIGEON which have been surprisingly difficult in the past. As we left a singing LINCOLN'S SPARROW at the restrooms was a bonus that eventually gave everyone great looks--and for the first year in many we struck out on Blue-winged Teal.

Red Knots at Farmington Bay

Heading towards the freeway we snagged CALIFORNIA QUAIL, which is never a sure thing so was technically a bonus bird for the day.  Like every year adjusting our route, this year we threw in a loop the opposite direction of our trip--heading to Bountiful Pond, we hoped to maximize our migrant lists by hitting 2 migrant traps instead of just.  It was rewarding as we were able to also add CATTLE EGRETS along Legacy Parkway--where 1,000's of WHITE-FACED IBIS filled every field. The group only had to scan one flock to get lucky enough to pick out a GLOSSY IBIS for the day.

Glossy Ibis photo by Rachel LeBlanc

At Bountiful Pond we waded in ankle deep water through the flooded orchard hoping for migrants. There wasn't as much as expected but we did star to pick things out slowly. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, WILSON's, & MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS were found. Several GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES were seen along the path around the west side of the pond. A BARN OWL flushed from the trees, while overhead swallows twittered about.  On the water we snagged COMMON MERGANSER and CLARK'S GREBE.  Feeling we'd exhausted the trees we left 15 minutes behind schedule for the day--but on time given we left 15 minutes late at the onset.

Bobolink at Shick Lane

The drive to Kaysville went quick, and we netted 2 BOBOLINK and WILSON'S SNIPE at Schick Lane, before adding GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE at Jensen Nature Park. And just like that the rain subsided--the clouds parted and the sun graced us with its presence. The rest of the morning would be spent at Antelope Island, birding in ideal conditions.  On the causeway we quickly pinned down 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, 4 WHIMBREL and a SNOWY PLOVER amongst the 1,000's of BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and SANDERLINGS. 10's of 1,000's of RED-NECKED PHALAROPE dotted the water. We couldn't find any turnstones or dunlins; and not a peep in the whole bunch. But a 3rd cycle LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was a bonus--as was an AMERICAN PIPIT along the beach. We plowed through our needs and headed to the end of the causeway where 2 PURPLE MARTIN were drifting over the last bridge.  At the marina we had 5 more including several gorgeous males that flew past at eye level.

Female Purple Martin at AIC

Tim's Car photo by Rachel LeBlanc

On the island CHUKAR, ROCK WREN, and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE came quickly. At Lady Finger Point we flushed a CANYON WREN from the rocks, and a singing NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD were nice additions. Another flyby PURPLE MARTIN made 8 for the day. Along the loop road we added SAGE THRASHER, GRAY FLYCATCHER, and a surprise BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. That was followed by BURROWING OWL and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER as well as the usual LARK and BREWER'S SPARROW. And yet another flyby PURPLE MARTIN made 9 for the day.  We finished up the north arm of the island with HORNED LARK and SAY'S PHOEBE, as well as the usual GREAT HORNED and BARN OWLS at the corrals.

Great Horned Owls at Antelope Island

The drive to Garr Ranch was punctuated with a quick stop for GRASSHOPPER SPARROW which was perched up and singing on arrival. At Garr Ranch we ran into a fallout--kicked off with PURPLE MARTIN number 10 for the day. WILSON'S WARBLERS were dripping form the understory.

Wilson's Warbler at Garr Ranch

Various other warblers flitted about, and we were fortunate to find the NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH along the fence line at the east end of the spring. Our only RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH of the day would be here--PINE SISKIN, WESTERN TANAGER, LAZULI BUNTING and WARBLING VIREO were also nice additions. We did a clean sweep of the Utah empids with all 5 regularly occurring species found around the ranch grounds. After making the rounds we opted to head out knowing we'd done very well at the ranch and were already past 130 species for the day. The drive out netted our NORTHERN HARRIER for the day, and in Layton we saw plenty of AMERICAN CROWS.

Northern Waterthrush at Garr Ranch

On our way to get lunch in Ogden we added a pair of WESTERN SCRUB-JAY which is usually a miss for us--and after a short lunch stop we headed to Birdsong Trail at the mouth of Ogden Canyon.  Here with a little coaxing we picked up YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and FOX SPARROW for the day as well as BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD. Overhead our first TURKEY VULTURES were a pleasant sight. Heading into the canyon, Mike suggested stopping at "The Oaks" to see if we could get a catbird and Calliope Hummingbird at their feeders. We had no such luck with those birds, but as we were getting ready to leave a small buteo emerged form the trees across the road and circled.  Everyone looked and someone quickly yelled out Swainson's Hawk! But that wasn't right, the dark bird was very "broad-winged", and the pattern was just off.  I fumbled to grab my camera as I stuttered that I thought it looked like a BROAD-WINGED HAWK.  All eyes were back on the bird as it circled overhead.  After getting my camera and finally focusing the bird made its way up up up eventually being dive bombed by a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, as they both circled amongst the WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS overhead. A quick check of the field guide and it sunk in that we really did have a dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk.  To gloat just a little (and for comfort confirmation) I sent the picture to Jerry Liguori with no text--his response was to excitedly ask WHERE??? This was definitely the bird of the day for me.

Dark morph Broad-winged Hawk in Ogden Canyon

Getting our wits about us we continued. At Pineview we added a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER before hitting Jefferson Hunt Campground. Here CEDAR WAXWING were added and finally OSPREY as we headed eastward towards Monte Cristo.  This was the first year SR-39 had been open so we took advantage of a new route through the mountains. As I tallied the birds from the day we sat at 149.  The car started guessing what 150 would be.  Mike was confident that it would Mountain Bluebird, while a few of us ventured that Northern Flicker would be next.  The radio from Jeff's car crackled, "NORTHERN FLICKER". We cheered and eventually saw one ourselves. The next bird to follow--MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.

The road to Monte Cristo

Making our was up the mountains we eventually hit gray skies, then thicker clouds. We picked up DARK-EYED JUNCO, followed by DOWNY WOODPECKER and RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER in the same tree!  Then we hit the clouds--literally, we drove into the fog and were greeted with snow and hail as we continued on.  This could make things difficult. We had a small but reliable list of birds we needed to get up here--and with this weather it would be difficult. As we parked across from the entrance to Monte Cristo Campground the fog lifted enough to see around us--but all was quiet.  I reluctantly ditched my flip-flops for hikers as it was even cold for my taste.  We did pick up a calling MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, but not much else.  I heard what sounded like a chortling Pine Grosbeak; and a couple times it sounded like American Three-toed Woodpeckers called.  But we couldn't pin anything down.  Eventually a few people did hear CLARK'S NUTCRACKER (and we'd all see one 10 minutes later as we drove off the mountain); but the birding left a lot to be desired.

Jeff's Car 12 hours in to the day

Back in the cars we descended to the east and out of the clouds. We added CASSIN'S FINCH on the way down, but no other montane species.  Monte Cristo was a bust and cost us a few species.  Had the weather been different it probably would have been a great addition to the trip. We stopped in Woodruff briefly to look for Common Grackle to no avail.  Driving along SR-16 south towards the Wyoming border through Deseret Ranch we picked up CANVASBACK for the day. We decided to cross the border and check out Woodruff Narrows Reservoir. VESPER SPARROW was picked up along the road in and at the lake we had RING-NECKED DUCK. Our other targets in the sage and on the water were missed, and we slowly made our way back towards Utah, stopping briefly in Evanston to pick up food for our last few hours on the move. Back in Utah we checked an old Ferruginous Hawk nest but there were none present.  All in all our big loop to the east had been a waste.  A few years ago we changed the route to leave the long drive up Logan Canyon, and down through Wyoming out.  It was too much driving--too little birding--and in the end we could get more species spending more time int eh field closer to home. I think that holds true with this years experiment; its hard to say how much different things would have been on a sunny day; but on this day it was a miss.

Common Loon at Echo Reservoir

Down Echo Canyon we decided to stop at Echo Reservoir. Here we picked up COMMON LOON and PLUMBEOUS VIREO for the day, before making our way towards Henefer adding both GOLDEN and BALD EAGLES along I-84. We were getting short on daylight and I knew we could add at least one more songbird for the day with AMERICAN DIPPER at Jeremy Ranch Road.  That was it though--we exhausted our last spot for Gray Catbird for the day without seeing one--and Swainson's Thrush really aren't back yet so that was another miss. Looking at our list we sat comfortably at 165 species for the day--we would have no problem at least tying our previous best.

Heading up East Canyon to look for nocturnal birds several in the group had a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE for the day. I was a little worried when Ruffed Grouse wasn't on its usually booming log--it took a short hike but eventually we flushed a RUFFED GROUSE from some high grass making it 167 for the day, what we ended with last year.  A few minutes later we called in a FLAMMULATED OWL for 168 and a new Marathon Birding record.  Try as we might we couldn't get another Flammy to come in nearby; and no poorwills were heard calling.  We might end up stalling with +1.  At our next stop there were flammy's calling but we tried for other owls which we needed for the day.  I heard a couple of screeches from the woods after doing a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL whistle for a bit--and it was a couple minutes later when one finally whistled back making it 169.

Flammulated Owl from East Canyon

At Big Mountain Pass it took a little coaxing to get a COMMON POORWILL to respond making it 170 species on the day--and we still had time to burn.  But given the long day, and great numbers we opted not to stop and try for screech-owl and instead head back to Farmington.  We forgot to check the odometer, but the trip should have covered 305 miles or there abouts for the day. We got back right at 11:00pm for 16 hours and 45 minutes of Marathon Birding through 7 counties (+1 in Wyoming). I was honestly shocked what we were able to see given the weather--it actually helped keep a lot of birds down probably which made picking up migrants easier than in the past.

It always amazes me how this trip transforms every year.  After 10 years looking back its crazy to think that in the past we struggled to get 130 species on this trip. Each of the last 3 years we have topped 160 and as we keep refining 175 or 180 doesn't seem that far off.  We never know how the trip will go, or what we really will see ad the unpredictability of migration, due to the rising and falling water levels of the GSL, the hit or miss nature of passerine migration in mid-May, and what routes will be open to drive. Every year we talk about adjusting the route a little bit and making subtle changes to get the most out of the day. So we'll have to wait and see what next year brings.  As always thanks to Jeff for co-leading this trip; and Mike and Taylor for driving--the 2 extra sets of eyes has really mad ea difference.  And especially thanks to the 6 hardy birders who showed up despite the horrendous conditions--it paid off!

If you're unable to view the embedded video, please go here: Flickr Video

As many of you know, I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio at the beginning of the year. I haven't done a whole lot of birding so far but I did get out to a state park today. I was able to get a video of one bird singing with a different species singing in the background. I thought if would be fun to share this video with you all so you could brush up on a couple of Eastern birds. I'll post the answer to what these two birds are in the comments in a few days, but go ahead and take a guess if you'd like.

The birding here seems promising now that the weather is warming up. I hope to be able to share some more details about my experiences here in the coming months. I just recently discovered that the Great Smoky Mountains are about as far away from me as St. George is to Salt Lake. I can't wait to go explore what looks to be an amazing place.

Good Birding,

Bilsky

So I've grappled with this for some time. When do subspecies matter in eBird?  You're going to hear a lot of people say that being as specific as possible is always going to be better than generalizing.  There are numerous users whose lists are filled with subspecies--even when the subspecies is the only form present of a species at the given location. Team eBirds official stance is this:

At eBird we believe it is important to allow birders to collect as much information as specifically as possible. 

Pretty vague, but they also say this a few lines later in their help document about subspecies:

For this reason, we try to allow this possibility for those that feel comfortable making these identifications. If you are not comfortable, or do not understand what the subspecies group refers to, please enter your sightings at the species level.

This is going to be the average eBird user; and in 99% of subspecies cases, the species level is going to be enough information to cover the local taxa. But Team eBird does end with this:

A final benefit for entering subspecies groups is that if they are ever split, we will automatically update your lists as appropriate... We encourage you to try to learn more about the eBird subspecies groups in your area and identify them when possible.

So their stance does actually appear to be use them if you feel comfortable, it will benefit you and us.  But I think they are overselling it a bit.  There are a few species here in Utah I have a bad habit of "subspecielizing" (yeah I just made that up) birds when I create a checklist.  Namely these are "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler, and "Red-shafted" Northern Flicker.  These are 2 cases where I got in the habit of doing it a long time ago, but I am going to stop.  The reason is simple--in both these cases the subspecies I am naming is the default species found here.  This is common knowledge and from a database perspective if this species ever does spilt they will be able to generalize in the east and the west which form was being reported.  There are several states where this will be problematic, but in those states the solution should be to note either subspecies.  In Utah it really only would matter to note the "Myrtle" subpsecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler as it is going to have far fewer reports and since its not the nominate subspecies it is worth noting.  Same for Yellow-shafted Flicker--reports on a yearly basis can be counted on our hands.  This can be taken into account if a split occurs.

"Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler is not the expected species in Utah

I also have stopped noting "Western" Red-tailed Hawk. I do always make note of "Harlan's", and if any others ever showed up here, I would note them as well.

Composite shot of a "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk in Lehi, Utah

There are also a number of subspecies that I would never take the time to report.  "Northern" Mallard, "Blue form" Great Blue Heron--I mean come on these are redundant.  These are again the default subspecies here, and the average birder isn't looking to identify forms of Great Blue Heron.  Obviously, if a "White form" GBHE shows up I think most birders would take the time to note it... but in general this seems ridiculous.  Mallards even more so--99.99% of Mallards in Utah are "Northern".  Taking the time to note this in a checklist isn't adding value at the subspecies level.  The .01% of times you see a "Mexican" taxa it is well worth noting.

The not rare or notable "Northern" Mallard--it's just a Mallard, come on.

Green-winged Teal is another one I don't note--obviously "American" is going to be the typical one here--if I ever saw a "Eurasian" I would take note immediately--that happens quite rarely here in Utah. Western Scrub-Jay is another one folks--if by some miracle a "Coastal" or "Sumichrast's" showed up here definitely worth noting.  But the "Woodhouse's" form is the only species known to occur here--so we probably don't need to note it. Let's not even talk about the subspecies within these subspecies.  The list goes on, Steller's Jay, Marsh Wren, and Spotted Towhee.

It is indeed a "Woodhouse's" Western Scrub-Jay--but it's the only subspecies in Utah.

But then there are birds I "subspecielize" (I really like this term) that I see the real value in.  These are one where multiple subspecies occur in the same area at certain times of year and worth noting.  Dark-eyed Juncos anyone?  This is the obvious case where noting a subspecies has a value.  It is not uncommon to have 4 subspecies at once during migration, when the local and migrant populations are both found--or even during the winter months.  This is one of the rare cases where a common species really does need it.  I also note subspecies within "Merlin" as we seem to get a good mix of "Taiga" and "Prairie"--obviously "Pacific/Black" is well worth noting.

It is worth noting your "Pink-sided" Dark-eyed Junco... or any subspecies for that matter

On the flip side we leave A LOT of these subspecies that are generally the expected subspecies off the checklists.  This is the way I like it and the way I am going to do my listing going forward to keep things clean, succinct, and obvious.  As a birder I challenge you to know subspecies and recognize them--that is something well worth doing.  But for checklists in eBird I don't much see the point of noting the obvious ones.  If splits ever do occur on most of these, the team at eBird will probably write an algorithm (if they haven't already) to correctly filter the split subspecies into their categorically correct species bucket in a given region, time of year etc.

But to each their own right?  Thsi post is not to tell you NOT to use subspecies.  It is one persons opinion on the need for it i ncertai cases.  Do what you feel comfortable doing and what you want to do to track your sightings.  I'm just one dude doing things one way! What are your thoughts on subspecies in eBird.

It seems like just yesterday we were wrapping up the 2014 Gullstravaganza. The crazy thing is that was 13 months ago.  2014 was one of our best gulling events--the best up till that point in variety of gulls and number of participants.  This year we decided to put all our eggs in one basket and finally just move the event to Farmington Bay WMA for its entirety instead of moving form location to location,  This likely had some advantages and disadvantages, but it made for a more relaxed event and much easier planning.

As has become the norm, we had a good number of sign ups with 33 people signing up for the event, despite a competing field trip led by Jerry Liguori and Hawkwatch International... Queue a little Seinfeld humor... "Hello Jerry!!!"



Okay, so that was ridiculous... :) In the past we have tried to plan this even when nothing else is going on, but this year we knew there were conflicts ahead of time--luckily the one we expected to cut in to ours--Snow Goose Festival--was actually a week later than expected (good for us and likely very bad for them as the geese have already started moving on...eek.).

So anyways, to the event.  After a slow start with gullers arriving we quickly realized Jerry was trying to poach our trip attendees by having his trip block the road to look at some boring BALD EAGLES.  He even went so far as to "accidentally take" one of our gullers in his car until the chap realized he'd been duped into the wrong group.  We straightened things out and eventually 23 birders were rallied to head out for the gulls! 4 more joined us shortly after for a total of 27 attendees this year.  Down from what we expected but the weather report likely caused some last minute dropouts--and those who Jerry promised photo-ops with ;)  None-the-less we were here to gull and gull we did.

Heading into the marsh we stopped briefly to look at an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL that was hanging out at the air boat launch on Dike Road at the carp pile.  Due the the unseasonably warm weather we've had the eagles have mostly moved out, leaving the piles of fish for the gulls to take advantage of without any competition.

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull taking flight

We scanned the water to the east as well where around 1250 TUNDRA SWANS were on the water, and hundreds of ducks including a few CANVASBACK were present.  Most of the winter divers were all together gone with just a few BUFFLEHEAD and COMMON GOLDENENEYE in the mix. To the end of the road we wandered setting up shop to scan a flock sitting on the mud a couple hundred yards out.  The prize in this group was a gorgeously white GLAUCOUS GULL that stood right out amongst the other gulls.

Glaucous Gull

As we watched and tallied more LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, a couple THAYER'S GULLS, and numerous HERRING GULLS things were looking good.  Along with just a couple CALIFORNIA GULLS and plenty of RING-BILLED GULLS we had 6 species of gulls in 30 minutes.  That's how to start a Gullstravaganza!  As we were about to pack up and head to another spot to set up for a bit, a very pale gull flew i and landed. I caught it running across the flats before it sat down and immediately ran for my scope.  This had to be an ICELAND GULL!

"Kumlien's" Iceland Gull

After a few minutes trying to get a good look at the wing tips I was 99% certain it was a Kumlien's Gull.  The bird had sat down and quickly tucked its head but it was sitting next to several Herring Gulls with a Thayer's nearby for comparison.  I assumed this had been the same bird Kenny Frisch and I found a month ago and it gave everyone long looks as it sat there until we moved on.  Everyone's scopes were trained on the bird--gull species #7 for the day in less than an hour.  The bird was a lifer for a handful of attendees--as was the Glaucous Gull.

Entrepid Gullers!

About this time a squall was making its way across the lake and had ht Farmington.  The wind picked up out of the north and headed towards us, bring wind, rain, and finally snow. We convened the vehicles in the parking lot on the west side of the 4-way where I told the group it was up to them whether they stayed or left.  I didn't know what the weather was going to do, but it didn't look pretty.  What I did know is we were here to look at gulls and not going to leave quite yet.  About 10-15 birders stayed or birded around Farmington for the next hour.  We set up about 60' from the carp  pile where HERRING GULLS were starting to filter in.

Herring Gull in Flight

The light was fantastic as the sun kept mostly out even though it was bitterly cold.  The snow passed quickly and the birds didn't seem to mind our presence as they fed.  More birds joined the fray and eventually a couple 1st winter THAYER'S GULLS made an appearance allowing for some great up close study.

Thayer's Gull

One of the biggest surprises for the day was actually the lack of gull abundance.  In fact on the day I counted just 23 CALIFORNIA GULLS.  That is an astonishingly low count for the event, and even for Farmington Bay this time of year.  The few that were present did provide some great opportunities to study next to the massive Herring's.

California Gull

The other surprise was that by my count the Herring Gulls actually outnumbered all other gulls combined--that includes RING-BILLED GULL which typically follows California in numbers.  Herring Gulls outnumbered the others 280 to 259.  Those numbers are also a low count for the event in terms of total gulls.  Now there were several hundred (maybe even 1,000) over the dump a couple miles east that you could see swirling with binoculars.  But I didn't count them for the list since they were unidentifiable, and outside Farmington's boundary.

Ring-billed Gull

As the day wore on the group dwindled to about 10 die hard gull watchers, braving the cold, snapping photos, and talking gulls, cameras, and other things bird and birding related. This was a Utah Birders event to a tee!

We did have a bit of excitement i the afternoon watching the carp pile as a very pale gull came flying in from the east.  Initially I thought it was the Iceland Gull and was stoked I would be getting killer flight shots.  And killer shots I did get--only the bird wasn't the Iceland Gull!

So what is it?

After it landed it was apparent the primaries were too dark and the bird seemed odd.  I thought about Thayer's Gull, but it was very pale, and was a hefty looking bird with a bulkier than normal bill.  Hybrids came to mind with the obvious choice for a bird this pale with a bi-colored bill being a Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid--also known as a Nelson's Gull.

Certainly has a Herring-ish face...

I stuck to that as the name until I got home when I started to wonder if I was looking at this thing all wrong.  One of the major issues with late season gulling is that birds get bleached losing some of their color making them appear "whiter" than usual.  The bird was on the small size for the hybrid in question, but not too small. Looking at it I could see some Herring features which is why I clung to the idea of a hybrid.  I have had several others look at it and the opinions are varied.  From very bleached out Thayer's Gull, to Something with some "Herring in it", to Glaucous-winged x Herring.  Glaucous x Herring has been ruled out but the jury is out on what this bird is.  I could certainly be swayed to Thayer's Gull, albeit the lightest I've ever seen--but I feel reservatons based off seeing it next to Thayer's and Herring in the field. Regardless, it was a very cool bird.

A gorgeous gull regardless the species!

Mid-way through the afternoon we wrapped things up and called it a day!  The 5th annual Gullstravaganza was in the books with 7 species of Gull!  As always this is my favorite trip of the year, as many birders still overlook gulls, and they continually provide us with unique individuals that can make for a difficult time ID'ing.  And as usual I was stoked with the excellent turn out.  As with years in the past my mind is already turning with ideas for making next years event even better.

A big thanks to Kenny Frisch for co-leading the trip this year.  And of course a big thanks to everyone who attended, from Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Summit, and other surrounding counties.  There were attendees from Millard County as well as Wyoming; and even one guest from Scotland (although he currently lives here).

eBird Checklist for this years event:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S22009728