Between 4:30 and 6:30 PM today (19 September), 3 juvenile/first-winter Little Gulls and a minimum of 5 jaegers were seen on Lake Superior from the viewing platform near Lafayette Square at 31st Street on Park Point. The adult Little Gull seen yesterday afternoon between Lafayette Square and Canal Park was not refound, but may still be in the area. The number of Bonaparte's Gulls was up from yesterday afternoon and included many juveniles.
As many as 4 jaegers were in view simultaneously and for more than an hour, at least one jaeger was in view at all times. One adult light-morph Parasitic, one immature dark-morph Parasitic, two unidentified jaegers, and the juvenile Pomarine Jaeger were carefully distinguished from one another, but more than 5 jaegers may have been present. This is the third consecutive afternoon that the Pomarine Jaeger has been seen. Conventional wisdom states that east to northeast winds are best for jaeger watching at Duluth, but the winds today were NNW at 14 mph. The dates, times, winds, and other weather data for the six periods of observation of the Pomarine Jaeger are shown below. Date Time of Day Winds Temp Dew Pt Barometer 4 Sep 1115-1215 N-ESE 7 75.0 48.0 30.20 6 Sep 1727-1731 ESE 10 62.5 55.9 30.04 10 Sep 1150-1154 E 14g23 57.9 39.0 30.34 17 Sep 1430-1530 SW 19 64.9 46.0 29.56 18 Sep 1625-1630 WNW 8 46.4 41.0 29.56 19 Sep 1650-1658 NNW 14 48.9 35.1 29.98 Peder H. Svingen Duluth, MN
