The highlight of a trip this afternoon to Woodlawn Beach State Park on the south Lake Erie shore in Erie County was a near adult (4th-cycle) apparent Great Black-backed x Glaucous Gull hybrid present amongst other gulls at the north end of the beach. Interesting about this bird was that it was initially found and photographed about 50 miles to the south at Dunkirk Harbor in Chautauqua County by Willie D'Anna, only to turn up again briefly on 15 October when Rick Thomas and I watched the bird (distantly and in-flight) from Hamburg Town Park during strong WSW winds (with the ID at the time only suspected).
Two photos are here: www.flickr.com/photos/jmpawli10 Without getting into too much detail, a few other things to note in the photos in addition to the intermediate mantle shade and extensive white in the wing-tips are the subtle hints of Glaucous Gull influence in the head/bill structure (as compared to pure Great Black-backed Gull), including the proportionately longer, more paralled-sided [straighter] bill, less "swollen" lores, and "flatter-face" with small appearing eye enhanced by "GLGU-like" white eye arcs--all of these features would seem to eliminate a leucistic Great Black-backed Gull. Additionally the bird is still undergoing its pre-basic molt (into winter plumage) with the very last primary feather (primary 10) on the wing-tips very thin, old, and worn, while the next primary in (primary 9) is still in the process of growing in. Other birds of note on the beach included a flock of 300+ Bonaparte's Gulls and 6 Sanderling, while several flocks of songbirds were present along the (windless) east side of the beach, including dozens of Kinglets, Sparrows, and Yellow-rumps, along with Blue-headed Vireo, Field Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, two Hermit Thruhes, and a late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Jim Pawlicki Amherst, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
