Folks- The long overdue adult Glaucous-winged Gull was seen originally on Dec 18th and was at the Algoma Landfill for about 2hours. from 930-1130. It then left heading towards the St. Mary’s River. Stan Phippen later spotted it at the rapids of the St.Mary’s River across from Whitefish Island. Despite intensive searching it was not seen yesterday or today.
Please note the Algoma Landfill is an industrial site and although certain areas are open to local dropping of garbage the industrial area is quite remote to this a very much off limits. The roads to get there are about 2 feet deep with mud and impassable except by 4 wheel drive large trucks. They have asked me to make this very clear that they will not be open to visitors except for the usual local garbage drop offs. I posted multiple photos on a E-bird checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S77748777 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S77748777> With Glaucous-winged Gull the question of hybridization will always arise. Being familiar with this species from both of its hybrid zones in the Pacific Northwest (with Western Gull) and Cook Inlet (with Herring Gull) as well as in areas were it is relatively isolated and ‘'pure” such as the outer Aleutians and Northeast Asia I feel that this bird is certainly about as “pure appearing” as is possible. This has been pretty much the consensus of those(many who are very familiar with this question)who have reviewed the photographs. I am certainly open to any comments and will of course submit the record to the ORBC for their determination. If it is relocated at any point it will be reposted to this forum Kirk Zufelt -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Ontbirds is reserved for sightings of provincially rare birds. To post a message on Ontbirds, send an email to: birdalert@ontbirds.ca. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Ontbirds Moderators by email at birdal...@ofo.ca. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To edit your membership settings visit the Ontbirds setup page at: http://ontbirds.ca/mailman/listinfo/birdalert_ontbirds.ca. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
