I was on the spit at Myers Town Park earlier this morning, scoping the lake for recent arrivals. There was a moderate south breeze and significant “heat shimmer” making distant viewing of objects close to and on the water difficult. I first noticed four BONAPARTE’S GULLS milling around straight out from the park. They would fly north a bit then turn south and disappear when they landed on the water. As I followed them I noticed that all had dark gray underwings causing me to wonder about Little Gull. Eventually I spotted a larger group of 21 Bonaparte’s Gulls flying south a bit above the water. They ALL had the dark underwings except for one bird with noticably darker, almost black, underwings. I lost the group in the shimmer, went to check for its possible arrival at East Shore Park, and found nothing. I suppose I should have checked from Portland Point first.
In any case, I’d say that there is a strong possibility of a LITTLE GULL on the lake today, so keep eyes open. Bob McGuire -- 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/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
