I was one of those who unsuccessfully searched for the 2 Franklin's Gulls at both Captree and Robert Moses State Parks this morning (9:3511:25). I started at Captree where I found a gathering of gulls (~50 birds) in the eastern half of the parking lot (past the bait and tackle shop). Most of the birds were Herrings or Great Black-backeds, and the few Ring-billed Gulls mixed in were the smallest species present. I also checked the more southern parking lot (overlooking the bay bridge), but only one HEGU was there.
Over at RMSP I first checked parking field 2 where no gulls were present, so I headed over to field 5 next. There was another small flock of gull sin the eastern half of that lot, but it contained only the same 3 species seen at Captree. So I returned to field 2, this time to check the beach in front of the pavilion. That is where I finally found a large congregation of gulls, >400, of which at least 250 were Laughing Gulls. A variably dense fog, a stiff onshore breeze, and periodic short flights by the whole flock (cause unknown) made for less than ideal search conditions. But after spending over an hour carefully scoping the flock, poring over all the loafing/preening LAGUs for the odd bird out, I regretfully came to the conclusion that no FRGU was among them. One last check at Captree before heading off to work was again fruitless. Hopefully all who look for the birds this afternoon will be more successful. John Gluth Islip, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
