Birders, This afternoon I drove up to the field outside Guelph where Mike Cadman reported he and Bryan Wyatt saw an interesting gull yesterday.
There were many gulls present: mostly Herring gulls, but also Ring-billed as well as Glaucous, Iceland and Great Black-backed. The birds were 100-200 metres from the road. I also saw another darker-mantled gull that was easily picked out. I can't be certain whether or not the bird I saw was the same bird Mike reported yesterday, but it seems quite likely. The only issue is that it was with a number of other gulls at the end of a thin stretch of longer weeds that ran from the road eastward, separating two fields. Consequently, it was periodically out of sight and I was not able to capture any digiscoped photos. The bird in question appeared to be an adult and in terms of mantle, had a colour that I'd describe as somewhat less than "halfway" between the mantle colour of the adult Great Black-backed present and that of the many nearby Herring Gulls. It had relatively deep pink legs. Overall structure and size was very much HEGU-like. The bill did not appear to be noticeably heavier or thinner than a HEGU's bill. Head and neck streaking was relatively prominent but to me, was more reminiscent of a LBGU than HEGU. Even with a scope, it was too far away to accurately assess eye or orbital ring colour. That being said, the eye did not seem to "pop out" in contrast with the head streaking. The only time the bird took flight is when a harrier flew and flushed all of the gulls. Unfortunately I was unable to maneuver my scope onto its wingtip pattern when it flew west toward Guelph Lake. I did pick up a relatively strong contrasting white trailing edge in my bins though. Without having a good look at the bird's wingtip pattern or having captured diagnostic photos for that matter, I'm not inclined to try to put a definitive ID on the bird Mike found. That being said, from what I did observe, the bird I saw didn't appear quite dark enough to me to have been be a Slaty-backed. Determination of species (whether extraordinarily dark HEGU, hybrid, or something else) will require a clear view of the bird's wing pattern and/or photos. An interesting bird nonetheless. Directions per Mike Cadman' post: The bird was viewed 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. David Pryor Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 21, 2014, at 1:49 PM, Cadman,Mike [Burlington] <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Bryan Wyatt and I were just watching a gull with the features of an adult > Slaty-backed Gull along Jones Baseline - in the field with about 750 Herring > Gulls. The field is on the east side of Jones Baseline about 2 km north of > Hwy 124. The gulls are mostly in a large group in one large field, but this > gull was mostly with a smaller group of less than 50 birds at the north end > of the adjacent field. The bird was sometimes hidden in a patch of some > taller weeds that is attracting a lot of the gulls. > > > > We couldn't get photos, but would appreciate it someone could give that a > try. The gulls are a hundred meters or more from the road. > > > > Mike > > > > Jones Baseline goes north from the east end of Guelph Lake from Hwy 124. > Guelph Lake is just north of Guelph on Hwy 124. > > > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > - - - - - - - - - - - - > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ 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
