Hello everyone,
The bird was seen on the beach east of the harbour entrance. It was about 2
metres from the water's edge and 30 metres east of the pier.
We were checking out the gulls from the car, in the parking area to the right
(west) of the main road turn around. My first impression was that it was a
Lesser Black-backed Gull as it was facing us and I just caught a glimpse of the
dark mantle. I got out of the car to get a better angle and was still thinking
it was a Lesser Black-backed Gull except that it had a large area of dark on
it's bill tip. It made the bill look somewhat bulbous.
We were approached to 50 metres from the bird and took a look through the scope
at 20 - 60X. We could see that it had a yellow-eye, with a red orbital ring,
the legs were yellow, the bill had a large black ring near the tip, the tip was
red and there was a small patch of red on the lower mandible on the face side
of the black ring and as mentioned it had a dark gray mantle. It yawned a
couple of times and spreads it's tail feathers so that we could see that it had
a black subterminal band on it's tail. I have examined the pictures that
Brandon Holden took on September 28, 2010. One notable difference was that this
bird had an almost entirely white head with only a little gray smudge on the
nap. I suspect that this difference was due to molt, rather than this being a
different bird. All features indicated that this was an non-breeding adult
bird.
I didn't have a camera with me so I was trying to take a picture through the
scope with my blackberry but without success. Suddenly the bird took flight and
headed north gaining height quite quickly the other gulls stayed on the beach.
The black tail band was clearly visible as it flew north. It seemed to follow
the river but then drifted slightly west. Approximately 10 minutes passed from
the time the bird was first seen to the time it left.
We drove to Port Bruce to see if it possibly could be there but with no
success. We drove back to Port Burwell and arrived about 4 pm but it wasn't
refound. It was interesting to note that some of the other gulls took flight
and also flew north in the same direction as the Black-tailed Gull.
Good luck,
Garth Riley
Etobicoke, Ontario
rile...@yahoo.com
P.S. We tried for but didn't see the Western Kingbird ~ 1 - 2 pm.
Directions: From Hwy 401 take exit 218 on to county road 19, follow it south
through Tillsonburg and keep going to the end. Port Burwell and the beach are
located at the end of this road.
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