Approximately three hours of watching gulls from outside the fence at the Superior Landfill today (28 December 2007) revealed the following larids:
Herring Gull -- 950 (counted by groups of 50 in flight; this was the highest total out of about 15 counts); Thayer's Gull -- 4 (one first-cycle, one second-cycle, 2 adults); Glaucous Gull -- 12 (5 first-cycle, 2 second-cycle, 2 third-cycle, 3 adults); Great Black-backed Gull -- one first-cycle. Prior to my arrival, Fr. Tom Margevicius saw a first-cycle Iceland Gull. The Slaty-backed Gull (see below) was not refound. Fr. Tom also mentioned that he found a Northern Hawk Owl yesterday along the Admiral Road (St. Louis County Road 788), about a mile north of the Sax Road (county road 28) in the Sax-Zim Bog. -- Peder H. Svingen Duluth, MN On Dec 21, 2007, at 5:37 PM, Karl Bardon wrote: > I watched gulls at the Superior, Wisconsin landfill > today from approximately 10:00-15:00 and saw the > following: > > At least 680 Herring Gulls, eight Glaucous Gulls (5 > first-cycle, 1 third-cycle, and 2 adults), seven > Thayer?s Gulls (2 first-cycle, 2 second-cycle, 3 > adults), and three Iceland Gulls (1 first-cycle, 1 > third-cycle, and 1 adult). The number of birds > (especially Herring Gulls) is likely much greater than > posted, since there is a constant influx and outflux > of gulls, and since I only counted the number of each > age seen at one time, or new individuals that I could > recognize based on plumage differences. The majority > of gulls were identified in flight since the landfill > is closed to the public and viewing can only be done > from outside the fence. > > Also seen and photographed was an adult Slaty-backed > Gull. The latter was studied off and on for several > hours both perched and in flight, and showed the > following: size of large Herring Gull with overall > bulky structure and large bill, yellow irides, pink > legs, heavy head streaking that formed a distinct bib, > broad white tertial crescent, slate gray mantle, and a > ?string of pearls? effect formed by white subapical > tongue tips on primaries 6-8 (dorsally and ventrally). > When the bird flew directly overhead, I was able to > see a large white subapical mirror on primary 10 (the > outermost), a moderate sized white window on primary > 9, and subapical white tongue tips on primaries 6-8. > When the bird was perched with the underside of > primary 10 showing, this feather appeared medium gray > except a large white subapical mirror, a narrow > darksubterminal bar, small white apical spot, and a > distinctly dark, narrow outer web. > > Karl Bardon >