02/04/2024
Keigan and I were veeery fortunate to have spotted this mega rarity in Ithaca, NY today. We pulled into the local compost facility to look at gulls, vultures, and crows that hang around it. We weren’t expecting to find anything too out of the ordinary. We had just been told that there was a Glaucous gull on the pile, so we went to look for the all-white gull. We spotted the Glaucous gull right away, and then keigan noticed a strange looking gull that lacked black wing tips. He sent photos of it to our friend, Elliott, who immediately called us to confirm that we were looking at a Glaucous-winged gull. Glaucous-winged gulls are only found on the west coast, near the ocean. There had been no other reports of them in this county and only a few reports of them in New York State, and really any state east of the Rockies. I feel very fortunate to have been able to spot this with keigan and start a county-wide search to refind this gull after it took off from the pile. What a treat!
Glaucous-winged gull, 2024, Ithaca, NY
