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presumed first cycle Glaucous x Glaucous-winged Gull

Fig 1) That's a Western Gull in the background. The short primary extension and bulk of the bird puts it firmly in the large large-gull camp; not Iceland at all. The head shape seems like Gl-W, but the bill shape favors Glaucous. The bill color is intermediate, and extreme for either in first winter. Because it's March, I'm tempted to say it's a washed-out Gl-W, but this is extreme, and the fine sandy-brown patterning on the coverts and cross-hatching on the scapulars, as well as the white tertials with a few subterm marks, all look very trademark Glaucous to me. It was probably a bit darker but is now a bit faded. March 14, 1998. Ocean Shores, Washington. Photos courtesy of Ryan Shaw.

Fig 2) Same bird at Fig 1. Here we see the tail shows some paler patterning on the outer halves of the retrices, which is a Glaucous trait.

Fig 6) This bird appears like a finely-patterned Gl-W Gull, but the patterning in the primaries (with the subterminal arrowhead marks) and the patterned tail suggest Glaucous Gull influence. March 4, 2011. Davis, California. Photo courtesy of Steve Hampton.