Finally, after being on the river for four different Mew Gulls over the years, missing two by less than five minutes and two by less than an hour, Betsy and I finally finally FINALLY caught up to one today. Betsy spotted it at the power plants from the main Adam Beck overlook. Kevin McLaughlin, Jean Iron, Ron Pittaway and a couple of other birders got to see it as well. It eventually landed opposite the small north overlook which we quickly drove down to for better looks. After seeing Colin Jones' photos of the bird at the control gates last weekend, I am confident that this is the same individual. Betsy spotted the bird around 3:30 and we left it around 4:30. Our elation is somewhat tempered by the fact that our friends Craig and Carol left just before it was spotted and we did not have their cell number.
The bird is an adult of the brachyrhynchus race (North American). It is surprisingly dark, though still decidedly paler than a Lesser Black-backed Gull. It has two large white mirrors and it has a "string of pearls" (small white spots between the gray mantle and black subterminal band) on three primaries (p5?,6,7). It appeared that the only white on p8 was at the tip. Thus, there was less white and more black on the wingtip than I expected. Although it is smaller than the Ring-billed Gulls in direct comparison, the difference is not easy to detect here. The bird had a very small unmarked yellow bill, dark eyes, yellowish legs, a broad tertial crescent, a smaller scapular crescent, and a characteristic narrow smudgy shawl across the base of the nape that stands out well in flight and looks like a kittiwake-like band but thinner and not black. There is also some brownish smudgy streaking on the head that can be seen with a good view. Unfortunately, the forecast for here is for several inches of snow starting overnight tonight. More about the other birds seen today in another post. Good birding! Willie -------------- Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Niagara Falls, N.Y. [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Willie D'Anna & Betsy Potter" <[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.
