Rare Gulls in Salt Lake County

On the afternoon of January 3 on my way to visit friends in Salt Lake City, we stopped at the Lee Kay Ponds west of town to look for rare gulls reported there recently. While I didn't see all the gulls I was hoping for, I did see seven species of gulls, more than I've ever seen in Utah in a single day, including:

Western Gull-1 adult
Lesser Black-backed Gull-1 2nd winter bird
Glaucous-winged Gull-1 1st winter bird
Thayer's Gull-1 1st winter bird
Herring Gull-8 various ages
Ring-billed Gull-150
California Gull-1200

California, Ring-billed, and Herring are the only really regular gulls in Utah--the rest range from very uncommon (Thayers) to downright rare (this is only the second verified Western Gull in the state).

I ended up the day meeting my minimum recommended daily allowance of birds and adding several new species to my 2008 year list.

Daily List: 27 species (135% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 76 species