Hi all, I wanted to let anyone interested know that the LAUGHING GULL that Alex Lees, Nargila Moura, Ken Rosenberg, and I reported on May 29 turns out to have been a FRANKLIN'S GULL! We were scanning from the Frontenac Harbor Marina when Alex spotted the bird flying out over the lake. It eventually came somewhat closer but we never got amazing looks at it and it never landed. Alex and I managed a few photos, but once we confirmed it had a dark hood, dark mantle, and no obvious white in the wingtips, we settled on Laughing without much further consideration. Thanks is due to Marshall Iliff and then Chris Wood for noticing and correcting our initial identification.
This seems to be a rather uncommon plumage in which to see Franklin's Gulls, apparently a first summer bird that has gotten extensive black on the hood without the broad subterminal white band that older plumages of this species show. A ghost of this band can be seen on some of our images, but it is not pronounced. Probably the most obvious features pointing to Franklin's are the underwing pattern, with relatively limited black in the wingtips, and the short, broad wing shape. The bill to me seems a little longer than one might expect for Franklin's, but the rest of the body proportions are wrong for Laughing. All in all, a great learning experience for me, and a reminder of why we should all take pictures of every bird we see! My updated checklist with photos is here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S29965783 We also had (almost as unexpectedly!) a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in a Canada flock offshore. I have been through this area quite a few times since this time and was not able to refind either of these birds, which went out on the RBA but perhaps not onto the listserv at the time. Cheers, Jay -- Jay McGowan Macaulay Library Cornell Lab of Ornithology [email protected] -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
