Mew Gull – John Rakestraw

Tillamook

October 6, 2020 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, seasonal movements

I had to go to Tillamook Bay to get some photos for an upcoming webinar. This particular day had freakishly nice weather, very un-Tillamook-like. Ideally, during fall migration, a birder hopes for onshore winds to bring seabirds and shorebirds close to shore, and a light overcast to provide gentle light for viewing and cool temperatures. This day brought light east winds, a cloudless cobalt blue sky, and temperatures in the 80s. I guess we have to play the cards we are dealt.

This is the Three Graces Tidal Area. The sun hadn’t cleared the hill yet so it was too dark to photograph the Harlequin Duck that was swimming around the rocks. Harlequins are regular at this site.

At the Bay City Oyster Plant, this Double-crested Cormorant was taking advantage of the sun to dry his wings.

Black Phoebe on the pilings at the oyster plant

With the east winds, shorebirds were very rare on this trip. This mixed flock of Least and Western Sandpipers at the oyster plant was the only big flock of the day.

Western Gull, hanging out on the Purple Martin boxes

I did the Tillamook Death March around Bayocean Spit. The ocean side of the spit is typically not as birdy as the bay side, but there was not a single shorebird on this trip.

There had apparently been at least a couple of shorebirds here earlier in the day.

Always glad to see these signs, hope that the Snowy Plover population will continue to recover on the Oregon Coast.

The Common Ravens on the beach were pretty skittish. I wonder if they have been “encouraged” to avoid the plover nesting areas.

There were a lot of these jellyfish near the mouth of the bay. Yet another reason I don’t swim in the ocean.

Despite the summery weather, autumn migrants, like this Red-necked Grebe, are trickling in.

A Mew Gull with two California Gulls

Despite the eerily nice weather, there were a few birds around. We need to remind ourselves that there is always something to see.

Happy Autumn

Mew Gulls

January 11, 2020 by John Rakestraw, posted in identification challenges, OR Birding Sites

mew right I made a quick trip to Amberglen Office Park in Hillsboro to check the lawn for gulls. Along with a small flock of Ring-billed Gulls were four Mew Gulls. Mews are one of my favorite gulls. They are easy to pick out of a mixed flock, they seldom if ever hybridize, and they possess a cuteness not found in most Larids.

Mew Gulls are found in Oregon from October to March. They are most common in estuaries along the coast, but you can find them in decent numbers in the Willamette Valley.

As gulls go, Mews are pretty petite with their short slender bills and round pigeon-like heads. Eye color variable, but tends toward the dark side. Like Ring-bills, Mews show very long wing projection beyond the tail.

dark mew left This individual is heavily marked on the head and breast compared to the bird above.

Amberglen is a good spot for waterfowl and attracts a few songbirds. Several sparrow species, including this Song Sparrow, were foraging around the main pond.

nutria Here is my obligatory photo of a Nutria. Cuteness transcends their invasive species status.

Happy Winter

Twitching in the rain

December 12, 2017 by John Rakestraw, posted in birding philosophy, rarities

One of the more popular avian celebrities in Portland this fall is a Virginia’s Warbler that has been visiting the suet feeders at a home for the past several weeks. This is a great bird for Oregon, and the bird has been very cooperative.

Like many area birders, I went to see this bird. It was early in morning and raining. I stood on the sidewalk in front of the house, and in a few minutes I was rewarded with nice looks at a Virginia’s Warbler. It was too dark for decent photos, so I left. This was a twitch; Going to see a bird reported by others, adding the species to your list (Oregon state list in my case) and moving on.

Twitching is not my favorite style of birding, but one I am increasingly reliant on. I would like to bring my Oregon bird list to 400 species. A couple of years ago I sat down with a state checklist and figured out what species I needed to bring my list up to that magical (and totally arbitrary) goal. To my surprise, I discovered that there were only about six regularly occurring species that I hadn’t seen. I could conceivably just go to where those species are regularly found and add them to my list, but that would not get me to my goal. Any other species I added would be a rarity, like, for example, a Virginia’s Warbler.

If I had unlimited time and funds, I could travel around Oregon and find a good number of rare birds on my own. But lacking both of those things, I must take advantage of any opportunity to see an Oregon rarity that shows up close to home. I still want to take my time enjoying a birding site and finding my own birds, but I am not above the occasional twitch.

Virginia’s Warbler, at dawn in the rain. I never claimed to be a photographer. I kept my camera in its bag until after I had gotten good looks at this bird. I have seen this species before, but it had been a long time.

This Yellow-rumped Warbler was a better poser.

After twitching the warbler, I went to Broughton Beach to enjoy the Mew Gulls.

Ring-billed Gull, Mew Gulls, and a Western/Glaucous-winged hybrid

After waiting out a downpour at Smith and Bybee Wetlands, I was treated to this brief rainbow. A nice end to damp morning.

Cannon Beach/Seaside

April 11, 2016April 11, 2016 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, seasonal movements

Nala and I spent a unseasonably warm morning around the towns of Cannon Beach and Seaside. Spring migration is just starting to kick in, but things are still pretty slow.

Since the tide was out, we were able to get pretty close to Haystack Rock and its compliment of Harlequin Ducks.

This band of California Gulls were hanging out on the beach (yellow legs), accompanied by a couple of young Western/Glaucous Winged (pink legs).

Most of the wintering Mew Gulls have left, but this one was on the beach in Gearhart.

Small numbers of Caspian Terns have returned to the Necanicum Esturary. A few were holding fish, trying to impress the ladies. It should work. I can be won over pretty easily with a vegan doughnut from VooDoo.

This bird was vexing. He is obviously a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but I was convinced he was a Hutton’s Vireo. He moved very methodically, actually standing still for several seconds at a time. Spastic kinglets never sit still for that long.
But he has the classic field marks of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet; a black bar at the base of the secondaries (lacking in Hutton’s), and black legs with yellow feet (all gray in Hutton’s). I don’t know why his behavior was so un-kinglet-like. Just another reminder to mind the details as well as the gestalt.

AmberGlen Business Park

December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites, Uncategorized

Several office parks in the Hillsboro area have nice open spaces that attract birds. AmberGlen has a pond next to a large lawn which attracts good numbers of gulls in winter.

Most of the gulls on my recent visit were Ring-billed Gulls, but two Mew Gulls were in the mix. Here is a nice comparison of the two species.

Ring-billed Gull enjoying a roust

and a swim

This Glaucous-winged Gull was rocking the lipstick.

Ring-necked Ducks

Here is a male Eurasian Wigeon, with an American Wigeon in the background. I am guessing this is a young bird molting into his first adult plumage. It seems a little late in the season to me, but I don’t know whether this Asian species has a different molt schedule from his North American counterpart.

McNary Wildlife Nature Area

January 18, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

Looking past the rather awkward name, the McNary Wildlife Nature Area is a great little spot for birding. The park, which came to my attention by hosting the recent Black-headed Gull, is located in the town of Umatilla, just downstream from McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Along with views of river, the park has several small ponds, areas of sagebrush, and riparian woods.

The park can be reached from 3rd street, on the north edge of town. From Hwy 730, west of I-82, turn north on either Switzler Avenue or Brownwell Blvd, then east on 3rd to the park. If you are east of I-82, turn north on Devore Road, then west on 3rd.

Black-billed Magpies are common in the area. I have always loved these birds, despite my total inability to get a decent photo of one.

I sorted through hundreds of Cedar Waxwings, looking for the few Bohemian Waxwings that had been reported in the area, but I found no joy.

At least six American White Pelicans were using the park.

An island in one of the ponds serves as a roosting site for Black-crowned Night-Herons.

There was a nice diversity of waterfowl, including this Common Goldeneye.

Gulls were well represented. Along with the abundant Ring-billed, and the famous Black-headed on the left, this shot shows a Mew (just right of center) and a California (right edge, gray legs). Herring and Glaucous-winged were also present.

American Robins and other songbirds were abundant in the brushy areas. A very birdy area overall.

New Year Birding

January 4, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I went out for a few hours on New Year’s Day to scout locations for my upcoming gull class. The weather was freakishly sunny for a January day in the Portland area.

The only gull flock I found was at Amberglen office park in Hillsboro. Most were Ring-billed Gulls. Here is a first cycle Ring-billed with an adult. As you can see, I am totally incapable of getting a good photo of white birds in bright sunlight.

adult Ring-billed Gull

These two Mew Gulls were looking very petite among the larger species.

A couple of Hooded Mergansers were swimming near the fountain.

Common Merganser

Ring-necked Duck

Finally, a bird that doesn’t have a lot of white. This Mallard was looking gorgeous in the bright sun.

Vanport

December 31, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

I took Nala to the dog park next to Vanport Wetlands in hopes of seeing a bird or two between throws of the ball.

A male Eurasian Wigeon made a brief appearance.

Green-winged Teal

gadwall drake A pair of Gadwalls swam in the nearby slough.

ring-billed gull preening The large flock of gulls that had been hanging out in the area were not around that morning, but a large puddle hosted this Ring-billed Gull along with some Mew Gulls.

Mew Gulls bathing

Yaquina Bay

November 20, 2014 by John Rakestraw, posted in mammals, OR Birding Sites

Yaquina Bay, at the town of Newport, is one of the more productive sites on the Oregon coast. On this visit, high winds reduced the number of birds that were out and about, but there was still a lot to see.

Common Loon with the catch of the day

Red-throated Loon

Pelagic Cormorant

Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe (above) and Western Grebe

Brown Pelicans

Long-tailed Duck

Surf Scoter

The flats behind the Hatfield Marine Science Center. There were lots of Mew Gulls, some Brant, and Northern Pintails. Note the Peregrine Falcon at the base of the fallen tree.

California Gull

Large numbers of California Sea Lions loaf on the jetties and docks on the bay.

Broughton Beach

November 10, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in OR Birding Sites

Broughton Beach is the stretch of shoreline along the Columbia River, just north of the Portland airport. It has been a popular spot to access the river to scan for waterfowl in winter, and the shore attracts some neat birds, like Horned Larks, American Pipits, and the occasional Short-eared Owl. There used to be free parking there, but that was eliminated when the adjacent public boat launch was expanded to include a nice new car parking lot (with a fee station).

There weren’t many birds on the water during my recent visit. Here is a distant Horned Grebe.

A mixed flock of gulls was loafing on a sand spit. There are at least four species in this photo, lots of California, a Mew, a Herring, and a few Ring-billed.

The gull flock was resting after being harassed by this guy. This Peregrine Falcon spent several minutes flying through the flock, taking half-hearted swipes at various gulls. Perhaps he was testing for any individuals that were injured or particularly slow.