We have had a first winter Glaucous gull in the Port of Tacoma area this winter (2017-2018) that is a very desirable species for Washington state. Glaucous gulls breed on the coastal areas of Alaska and in the high arctic across the Western hemisphere, and winter on the northern parts of both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America as far south as central Oregon in the west and Virginia in the east. They also winter around the Great Lakes. Still the Glaucous gull is an uncommon and sought out species in the lower 48 United States.
Most of the Glaucous gulls we find in WA are immature, generally first winter birds, and the individual we are seeing in Tacoma is a first winter bird.
We are seeing this gull often in an area of the Puyallup River near the mouth from the 11th Street Bridge at an area we call the "gull bathing" spot because of the congregations of gulls that gather there to bathe in the fresh water of the river after feeding out on the mud flats and in Commencement Bay. These photos were taken from this area. We are also seeing the bird roosting on buildings in the Port area usually from the Gog-li-hi-ti mitigated wetlands natural area.
The key field-marks for this first winter Glaucous gull area the large size, the lack of dark pigmentation in the wing tips making it an overall very light/white bird, and the bicolored pink bill with a black tip.
Good birding.
