Cayuga birders, Carolyn Sedgwick and I found a juvenile Thayer's Gull at Stewart Park this evening at around 3:50 pm. We were actually getting ready to head home after a long day of birding throughout the Cayuga Lake basin (see Mike Harvey's post coming soon to a listserv near you) when I glanced up over the car and saw a large, very pale brown gull circling low overhead before disappearing towards the city (happily not before I got photos though). After a group of birders assembled and the bird thankfully reappeared to roost just off the dock at Stewart. The bird swam around a bit before climbing up onto a tire protruding from the water about 100 feet offshore. The bird was still present at dark (and is presumably roosting there). Morning updates would likely be appreciated. Given the overall appearance of the bird, the rather early date, and the rarity of Thayer's Gull in the Finger Lakes region, I think it is very likely this is the same individual that I photographed yesterday afternoon at Sheldrake Point, 17.9 miles northwest of Stewart Park. Photos of the juvenile Thayer's Gull in flight and on the water will be here soon: http://picasaweb.google.com/jaegermaster/ThayerSGullIthacaNY#
Important ID points supporting this bird being the enigmatic Thayer's Gull include the overall pale brown-ness, brown primaries crisply edged with silver/ pale-ness, pale underwings with dark primary tips from below, dark-centered (but pale-tipped/ fringed) tertials, a solid brown tail band, black bill, pink legs, an overall "cute" appearance to the head, and a darkish eye mask. See photos for more details. <http://picasaweb.google.com/jaegermaster/ThayerSGullIthacaNY#>If the gull isn't at Stewart Park tomorrow morning, the compost piles on Stevenson Road in Dryden are a good bet. Cheers, Tom -- Thomas Brodie Johnson Ithaca, NY [email protected] mobile: 717.991.5727 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
