Saturday, after I ran my errands, I met Joe Phipps at the Riverplex in Peoria, IL just before noon to look for the 1st cycle Iceland (Kumlien's) Gull, which Matthew Winks, Shanin Abreu, and Andrew Aldrich had seen the week before. For those confused by the name Kumlien's, Kumlien's Gull is currently classified as the North American subspecies of Iceland Gull by the American Ornithologists' Union. I began chumming, and some gulls came in, including a 2nd cycle Thayer's Gull (shown below), but we had mostly Ring-billeds with a few Herrings.
We moved closer to the bridge along the Peoria river front, but only saw Herrings and Ring-billeds until the same Thayer's showed up again.
We thought we saw an Iceland or Glaucous Gull on the other side of the lake, but when we got to the East Peoria side, this is the bird we found. It looks like it might have been a different Thayer's Gull (2nd cycle).
At about 2:35, we tried the Riverplex again. First we scanned only to see Ring-billeds and Herrings. Then as soon as we started chumming, we saw the 1st cycle Iceland Gull, which was a lifer for both of us and Illinois # 300 for me. Success!
But the surprises were not over. We also noticed that this 3rd cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull had flown in, while we were observing the Iceland Gull.
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