The date of when the bird was initially observed at Dunkirk Harbor was on 2 October.
Jim Pawlicki On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 9:54 PM, James Pawlicki <[email protected]> wrote: > 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/ --
