With Halloween approaching and in the spirit of the season I offer you this story -
The ghost gull of Grand Marais Jeff Price, copyright 2003 all rights reserved The day of the annual Grand Marais Christmas Bird Count dawned cold and still. Since this was Paulas first count she was given the lakefront plot - the lake had frozen early this year and the compiler thought there probably wouldnt be much there. If Paula saw something she couldnt identify, like an immature gull, she was supposed to call the compiler who would come down to help. Eager to prove herself, Paula set up her scope and began scanning the ice. On her first pass she didnt see anything. As she took a break and poured some coffee from her thermos a few Snow Buntings flew by. She dutifully marked those down on her tally sheet and returned to her scope. On the second pass a slight movement caught her eye. She stopped scanning and focused carefully on the bird perched out on the ice. It was about the size of a Ring-billed Gull but it was snow white - no wonder she had trouble seeing it earlier, it looked like a ghost it matched the ice so well. Zooming in she could just make out the dark legs and bill. Not recognizing the bird she grabbed her field guide and started flipping through the pages. There it was, an Ivory Gull. She couldnt believe it and pulled out her cell phone to call the compiler. Sara had real mixed feelings about the call. On the one hand, she almost hoped Paula was wrong. This sighting was bound to mess up the count. On the other hand, it was an Ivory Gull, that nearly mythical ghost bird of the Arctic. Sara pulled into the parking lot and walked over to look through Paulas scope. Her breath caught in her throat and she studied the magnificent bird. All she could say was Wow, nice find Paula. Regaining her composure she started making calls. This might mess up the count but she couldnt keep the bird a secret, not even for a day. She only hoped word got out to the counters in the field so they could swing by the lakefront - then go back to counting. She also made sure that someone posted the information to the Internet before they headed out. To: Undisclosed list From: MOU-NET Subject: Ivory Gull An adult Ivory Gull was located on the ice off of the Grand Marais lakefront this morning. The electrifying news went out and within minutes birders from around the region were calling in sick and heading for Grand Marais. Within hours, birders had set up their scopes and were carefully studying the bird. A reporter from the local paper even came out, took some pictures of the birders and headed back to prepare his story for next weeks paper. A storm moving into the Cities made Jack late for work. He knew he didnt really have time but still he checked his E-mail before he was to head to an all-day, all-office meeting. He shouldnt have. An Ivory Gull! This bird had been a nemesis of Jacks for years. He checked his watch and looked out the window at the falling snow - he might be able to make it to Grand Marais before dark if he left now. Feeling an exceptionally bad case of avian flu coming on, Jack decided to deal with his boss later, mumbled excuses to his secretary and dashed out the door. Driving faster than he should given the snowy conditions, Jack actually made it to the harbor with a little time to spare. He became concerned by the lack of birders and sure enough, the bird was nowhere to be seen, at least not through binoculars. Mounting his scope on his cars window he scanned the ice - nothing. Driving along the harbor he kept stopping and scanning - still no gull. Moving along the lakefront he stopped and scanned again. Finally, some movement caught his eye. Cranking the scope up to 60x, maximum power, he saw it, barely making it out against the ice. This bird had eluded Jack for so long he really wanted a better look. The weather had been unusually cold for most of late fall and early winter and Jack hoped that maybe, just maybe, the ice had frozen enough to let him walk out on it. Cautiously at first, then moving ever faster, Jack walked out on the ice toward the bird, gradually getting farther and farther from shore. The light was fading fast when Jack finally got close enough to really see and appreciate the bird. It was then that he noticed that the bird was sitting on a floe Jack was at the edge of the ice. By now other birders from the Cities had arrived. Seeing Jacks car parked along the lakeshore they pulled up behind it. An offshore wind had kicked up and it was brutally cold. It didnt matter what the conditions were; this was an Ivory Gull. Quickly, they pulled their scopes out of the car and started scanning. They saw Jack out on the ice and watched him through their scopes as he turned and carefully started back toward shore - watching in disbelief as a crack formed between Jack and the shore. Jack became concerned when the wind picked up and grew more concerned when he heard a sort of grinding sound. Looking toward shore he stared in horror at the black line forming between him and safety. Sprinting forward he quickly stopped when he realized he couldnt possibly jump across the rapidly growing patch of icy open water between him and the shore. The wind had fractured the ice and Jack was now on a floe drifting out into Lake Superior. Grabbing their cell phones the birders quickly got through to the Coast Guard. A helicopter was dispatched and the birders told to stay where they were to help guide it into place. By this time all the birders could see was the faint outline of Jack and his frantically waving a flashlight back and forth toward shore. The Coast Guard searched for hours until the helicopter was grounded by the wind. At dawn the next morning the birders were back along the lakeshore and the Coast Guard continued their search but neither Jack, nor the Ivory Gull was ever seen again. The ghost gull of the Arctic had moved on. Every winter, birders in Grand Marais report seeing a ghostly figure way out on the ice, looking through a spotting scope. Sometimes, looking toward the lake on a clear night you may even see a small light waving frantically back and forth. And whenever a visiting birder reports seeing a white bird out on the ice - local birders know not to get too excited - its only a ghost. ===== Jeff Price Boulder, CO [email protected] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com
