Utah Bird Records Committee

Utah Bird Records Committee

Rec. # 2005-29(R92)
Laughing Gull

Date first observed: December 1992
Location: Roosevelt, Duchesne Co.

Background: In March of 1994, A note and photo were submitted by Keith Day (the name of the photographer is not known) to Ella Sorensen asking if she could identify the gull. It was submitted to the Records Committee as a Boneparte's Gull (record# 14-1992) and was circulated with a black and white "xerox" copy of the photograph (if was of very bad quality). The original photo was sent to Guy McCaskie to obtain an "expert opinion." The comments by Guy McCaskie indicated that the gull was an adult Laughing Gull in winter plumage.
Because there is no record of a final decision by the Records Committee, this sighting is being resubmitted to the Records Committee in August 2005 with a digital internet photo and information from the evaluation by Guy McCaskie as the basis for this record.

Sightings:

December 1992 - Photographer in Vernal [Photo]

Sight Records:

Records Committee Review:

	Date	Results
Date Posted (1st round):	30 Aug 2005	6 acc, 1 not
Date Moved to 2nd Round:	3 Nov 2005	3 acc, 4 not
Date Moved to 3rd Round:	23 Dec 2005	0 acc, 7 not
Date Completed:	25 Jan 2006	Not accepted

Summary: It was decided that although the photograph with the record showed a Laughing Gull, the origin of the photo was not sufficiently documented to suffice for a first record for this species in Utah.