Ontbirds subscribers, This afternoon presented some of the strongest and most sustained onshore SE and ESE winds since I moved to the Whitby waterfront in early 2009, so I spent much of the afternoon watching the lake off my house hoping to see jaegers and/or kittiwakes (or the Pacific Loon that has been lingering off Thickson Bay). Although unsuccessful in finding any of the aforementioned species, just before 3:30 p.m I spotted a first-winter Franklin's Gull flying east to west with a group of 7 Ring-billed Gulls. Aided by the strongly gusting winds, it was moving very quickly over the many white-capped waves and moved off to the west beyond Thickson Point in less than a minute. Its dark gray mantle, dark half-hood, cleanly white underwings, white-tipped dark secondary bar contrasting with the rest of the inner wing, and dark tail band extending across all but the outer tail feathers were all seen well. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, and I suspect it may have been floating on the water unseen all along and got up to fly while I was scoping other parts of the lake. Thickson's Bay and Thickson's Point can be found by exiting Hwy 401 at Exit 412 and proceeding to the bottom of Thickson Rd. S. at the cul-de-sac for the Waterfront Trail. Turn left off the cul-de-sac and follow Thickson Rd S. right to the lake. Glenn Coady Whitby _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
