Chet Meyers and I identified a Franklin's Gull on the west side of Lake Calhoun just before 5pm on Wednesday evening, 12/10. Some notes below*. I've never seen one in the Twin Cities, and the latest date for the state in Janssen (1987) is November 27.
The lake was inexplicably almost entirely open, after mostly glazing over last week.There were possibly 100 American Mergansers, and quite a few Goldeneye, and apparently only a few Herring Gulls and no other gull species among the many Ring-bills. Stephen Greenfield Minneapolis tapac...@halcyon.ws *It appeared to be second winter or older, with a gray mantle darker than the nearby Ring-bills, remnant black hood with white eye-ring and forehead. There was considerable white before the wing tips, which had white spots..