This presumed Adult Western Gull (Larus
occidentalis occidentalis?) was photographed at Vernon
(Okanagan Valley), British Columbia, on February 6, 1999 by Don
Cecile. There are no previous records of WEGU for this area, and
inland records of this form are extremely rare (although Don states
that a few presumed GWGUxWEGU are recorded each winter along with
increasing numbers of pure GWGUs). Don comments: "The iris
is brown, the orbital ring is red, the mantle appeared to match
the shade of that of California Gull, the bill dimensions seemed
similar to that of Herring, the upper mandible had a black triangular
patch above the red gonys,the bird is in alternate plumage on
the date of Feb 6 and is the only bird in that plumage at this
time." The identification as WEGU is not Don's but my own;
I would appreciate receiving any comments
about this bird:
On the right,
with HEGUs.
In the image below, the bird is top-left, with HEGUs and a CAGU
bottom-right:
