Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Laughing Gull
Scientific name:	[Leucophaeus ayricilla]
Date:	6/6/25
Time:	12:15pm
Length of time observed:	about 10 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	appeared to be adultt
Sex:
Location:	Sand Hollow Reservoir, at covered overlook near boat launch
County:	Washington
Latilong:
Elevation:	3000 ft
Distance to bird:	~60-80 yards
Optical equipment:	Leica scope, 20-60x
Weather:	clear with some high scattered clouds; low wind; 80 degrees
Light Conditions:	Slightly cloud-filtered bright and glary overhead sunlight, not ideal but certainly adequate
Description: Size of bird:	medium-small gull-size
(Description:) Basic Shape:	gull shape
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Black head/hood, dark mantle, white below
(Description:) Bill Type:	gull-bill; slight droop
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Most notable: 3 small, narrow white feather-tips (more like narrow vertical lines than spots) spaced along dark flight feathers, with a possible 4th at the very wingtip -- instead of the large white spots on Franklin's. Black head/hood. Prominent eye-arcs oriented to the rear-side of eye. Reddish or at least partly red (and blackish) bill, slightly drooped. Dark mantle. White below. I did not detect any faint rosy wash below, but didn t get a good frontal view.
Song or call & method of delivery:	N/A
Behavior:	Floating on lake surface offshore
Habitat:	Lake/reservoir, not far off shore
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Franklin's Gull has LARGE, conspicuous white spots spaced along dark flight feathers. Otherwise very similar. Bonaparte's Gull is way smaller/daintier and lacks eye arcs and wing spots. Little Gull: ditto Sabine's Gull: ditto, and has medium-large wing spots Black-headed Gull has paler mantle, browner head and less conspicuous eye arcs
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I found an immature Laughing Gull almost exactly a year ago at Sand Hollow SP. My tour group found an adult vagrant at Tokeland (SE WA) August 2023. I have seen many on the East Coast, most recently in April on the beaches near Cape Canaveral. I have observed and distinguished many Franklin's and Bonaparte's Gulls at Sand Hollow over the last two years. Years ago I observed many European black-headed type gulls.
References consulted:	Sibley's field guide; All About Birds website
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Paul Hicks
Observer's address:	1630 E 2450 So #26, St George 84790
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	none
Date prepared:	6/6/25
Additional material:
Additional comments:	I was hopeful for some good birds the morning following a major wind and lightening event. At the conclusion of my routine (and very successful) "rounds" at SHSP I made one last check of the boat launch overlook, expecting to see the grebe flock closer than they were 5 hours earlier, as is their pattern. I was scoping the flock and stumbled upon this gull which I would have otherwise overlooked as just another gray-and-white grebe-blob in the group. I paid it particular attention in order to determine whether it was a Bonaparte s or Franklin s, both of which would be flagged by eBird. The more I looked the more I wondered about the ID, with Laughing Gull somewhere in the list of options. I focused particularly on the small/narrow white spots (more like vertical lines) spaced along the dark flight feathers. (I was able to zoom in to practically fill the entire field of view.) Decided I better check in with Sibley. That s when I determined this was a Laughing Gull. I grabbed my camera-phone but by this time the bird had disappeared. Over the next 20 minutes it did not return. I did not attempt to relocate it along the shorelines (solely to attempt a photo) because they were all overrun with recreationists. I immediately notified the local rare bird text group with brief description.