Took a look this am for the unusual Herring Gull that's been reported here. When I got there I found on the rocks at the end of the road a Herring Gull with dull yellow legs, but the mantle looked to be the same color as the other few Herrings nearby. I have seen yellow-legged Herrings a few times over the years so assume the bird I had was one of those. >From Shai's photos it would seem his bird is obvious right away. It really didn't seem right for Shai's gull. I also had what looked like a yellow-legged Great Black-backed Gull on a rock off shore with some other gulls. I had never seen a Great Black-backed with yellow legs before. I at first thought Lesser Black-backed, but the posture and form was wrong plus it was not much smaller than the immature Great Black-backed near it. It was also a little larger than the Herrings next to it. Never seen a Lesser the size of a Herring let alone larger. Interesting bird. As an aside, on the way home I stopped in Stony Brook and saw a heron colony on an island in the lake at T. Bayles Minuse Mill Pond Park. The nests were small so not Great Blue. I assume night-herons, but which one? Will have to go back in a month to see. Andrew Andrew v. F. Block Consulting Naturalist 20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3 Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4780 www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums --
NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --