Hey Ontbirders,
This afternoon I ventured north of Guelph to Belmont Lake, just east of the
town of Fergus about 5-10 minutes. I looked up and down the agricultural
fields north west of the town of Belmont with no gulls in sight and then looked
along Belmont Lake itself. Brandon Holden reported a Mew Gull in this area a
little over a week ago in the area and this is what prompted my afternoon
search. At the far southern end of Belmont Lake gulls congregated on the edge
of an island and in the water offshore (just a few hundred meters from viewing
distance at most) between 3:30 and 5:00 pm.
Although I found very little of interest, there had to be about 10,000+ gulls
here... VERY IMPRESSIVE for an inland site!
Amongst the Herrings and Ring-billeds there was a single 1st-basic Great
Black-backed Gull and a MYSTERY 3rd-basic gull. I was quite puzzled by this
gull.
Mystery Gull: Slightly larger than the surrounding Herring Gulls, with almost
all proportions (head, bill, body) appearing just slightly larger; a darker
mantle, though not dark enough to recall Lesser Black-backed Gulls which I had
just seen last weekend. The mantle was what tipped me off on the bird as I
worked through the floating raft of gulls. The bill was pale to straw colored
with a thickened black ring near the tip of the bill. At times the birds head
appeared more rectangular than the Herrings. The leg color was seen, as the
bird was only seen floating. The head and neck were mostly white with only
some very pale duskiness that could be seen in good light (ie. no good amounts
of streaking, mottling, etc. anywhere to be seen). The eye appeared dark but
it was a good distance away and this was not a safe assumption. The primaries
were mostly black with a tiny white tip to one of the inner ones. The white
tertiary crescent appeared average in size amongst the Herrings. Again, this
was a 3rd-basic bird it seemed.
Could this have been a Great Black-backed x Herring hybrid? Does anyone else
have suggestions!?!
Please respond privately :)
There were also two smaller Canada type geese though I don't know if they were
Cackler's or not to be honest. I still think Ontbirders are reporting more
"Cacklers" than are actually around...?...
Directions: Belmont Lake is reached from hwy 401 by taking #6 hwy north
through Guelph to the town of Fergus, then east on a smaller hwy to Belmont
Lake - look it up, it's on your map!
Cheers,
Andrew Keaveney
Toronto, Ontario
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