After viewing some photos of adult Slaty-backed Gull, I'm thinking the bird near Guelph may be too light on the back. Although it is certainly darker than adult Herring Gulls - it's about the colour of a Lesser black-back - it doesn't appear as dark as the birds in the Slaty-backed Gull photos.
It would be good to get some other opinions on this. The bird was viewed yesterday (Sunday Dec 21) afternoon in a field on the east side of Jones Baseline, 2 km north of Hwy 124, which heads northeast out of Guelph. Jones Baseline leaves Hwy 124 at the eastern end of Guelph Lake. The 750 or so gulls (which include several Glaucous and Icelands) appear to have been using this same field for at least a week, as a large number we seen here during the Christmas Bird Count on Dec 14. So there's a reasonable chance the bird will be back today. Cheers, Mike - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mike Cadman Songbird Biologist Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada 867 Lakeshore Road Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1 [email protected] Telephone: 905-336-6295 Fax: 905-336-6434 Government of Canada Mike Cadman Biologiste aux oiseaux chanteurs Service canadien de la faune Environnement Canada 867 chemin Lakeshore Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1 [email protected] Téléphone: 905-336-6295 Télécopieur: 905-336-6434 Gouvernement du Canada _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
