Sightings:
- Ross's Gull (adult). Ford County, Kansas. 01 February 2025.
- Continuing 2nd state record. Found dead on 05 February 2025.
- Kamchatka Gull (adult). Essex County, Massachusetts. 01 February 2025.
- Likely two different individuals present in this general region.
- Swallow-tailed Gull (adult). Los Angeles County, California. 05 February 2025.
- 1st County Record. 9th State Record.
- Vega Gull (adult type). Volusia County, Florida. 05 February 2025.
- Vega Gull (adult). Cameron County, Texas. 08 February 2025.
- Continuing from January 2025.
- Vega Gull (adult). Alameda County, California. 12 February 2025.
- Slaty-backed Gull (adult). Franklin & Benton County, Washington. 12 February 2025.
- Presumably the same returning adult with semipalmated feet, since at least 2016.
- Kamchatka Gull (adult). Westchester County, New York. 17 February 2025.
- 1ST STATE RECORD. Same individual that has returned to Fairfield County, Connecticut since at least 2019.
- Glaucous-winged type (2nd/3rd cycle). Sarasota County, Florida. 19 January 2025.
- 1ST STATE OCCURENCE. Tending mostly to Glaucous-winged. Inconclusive.
- California Gull (2nd cycle type). Sarasota County, Florida. 20 January 2025.
- Thayer's Gull (adult type). Sarasota County, Florida. 20 January 2025.
- Vega Gull (2nd cycle). San Diego County, California. 22 February 2025.
- Continuing since October 2024.
- Slaty-backed Gull (subadult). St. John's, NL. 24 February 2025.
- Heermann's Gull (6th cycle/adult). Volusia County, Florida. 24 February 2025.
- After an almost one-year absence from Florida, this individual has returned south from North Carolina, in alternate plumage.
- Glaucous-winged Gull (3rd cycle). Strafford County, New Hampshire. 24 February 2025.
- Kamchatka Gull (adult). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 25 February 2025.
- Kelp Gull (2nd cycle). Cameron County, Texas. 27 February 2025.
- Continuing at the Brownsville Landfill.
Notes:
1. The adult Common Gull, BLUE 74J, that was first found in Norfolk County, Massachusetts in April 2018, and then subsequently seen in Rockland and Cumberland County, Maine this winter (2024-2025) was banded under a University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) project that monitors the movements and population dynamics of Ring-billed Gulls. The gull was misidentified as a Ring-billed at the time of banding and assigned an ambiguous age. It serves as a great reminder of how valuable photos can be when banding a gull, or any bird for that matter, and the importance of expertise when handling birds. You can read more about this interesting story by Louis Bevier here. Thanks to Alex Lamoreaux for sharing this news on North American Gulls.
2. The Swallow-tailed Gull found in Los Angeles County this month may very well be the same individual that has been furnishing a number of first county records along the California coast in recent years. Interestingly, all of the recent California sightings involve an adult type in alternate plumage.
3. An interesting, dark mantled Herring type first found in Suffolk County, New York in February 2022 has returned for another winter. This individual, with bright yellow legs and all-white tip to p10 has elements of northern argentatus, European Herring Gull. The pattern on p9 and p10, however, combine for an atypical combination for nominate argentatus. Despite the great amount of variation found in that taxon, given the yellow legs, it's a nonideal record, and ruling out a hybrid (likely involving Lesser Black-backed Gull) is not possible.
4. The Glaucous-winged type found in Sarasota County, Florida by John Groskopf should be the first official state record involving this taxon. Ruling out outside influence (likely Herring) is not trivial.
