Birders, This morning I went to Port Huron to see what the northwest wind would blow in, and almost immediately on arrival (9:30 a.m.) I saw two juvenile Sabine's Gulls flying together toward me. About 400 yards away, the birds turned west and were lost from view behind a building (I was watching from Edison Park at the St. Clair River mouth). I suspected the birds might have made landfall at Lighthouse Park a short distance north, and indeed when I arrived around 10:00 the birds were feeding just off the beach with about 35 Bonaparte's Gulls and a few Ring-billed and Herring Gulls.
I watched, and attempted to digiscope the two Sabine's over the next hour and a half, when I eventually noticed another interesting bird sitting briefly on the beach. I got the scope on it for a few seconds and determined that it was a first winter Mew Gull before it took off and joined the feeding flock offshore. I managed some notes and a couple of digiscoped photos of the bird in flight. Soon after, two people walking their dog came down the beach and flushed all the gulls much farther into the lake (the Sabine's were last seen heading northeast, after briefly passing Point Edward, Ontario). I waited for another half hour and the Mew Gull did not reappear. This bird would appear to be of either the European race (canus) or the east Asian race (kamschatkensis), as it was very white below with brown only visible on the wing coverts. Other interesting birds here included 2 White-winged Scoters and 10 Surf Scoters. There were no loons or jaegers this morning, at least none that I noticed. To find Lighthouse Park in Port Huron, from M-25 go east on Garfield Street (Hancock is closed for construction) to the T intersection with Omar Street. Turn left onto Omar St. and the parking area for Lighthouse Park is about 100 yards on the right. From the parking area, walk to the beach which is past the brick restrooms. Allen Chartier [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1442 West River Park Drive Inkster, MI 48141 Website: http://www.amazilia.net Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/index.htm "Allen Chartier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
