This morning I covered the length of Park Point, starting at Canal Park, where I had 2 young GLAUCOUS GULLS and a likely Thayer's Gull mixed throughout the Herring Gulls. Even though my 12x50 binocs provide a good amount of magnification, I wasn't 100% sure about that Thayer's/Herring Gull. As seen from across the channel, this gull had a dark eye (noticably darker than nearby Herring Gulls), and it was also sporting a well-mottled hood, although both Herring and Thayer's can show this. Distance made for a difficult time observing the wing tips clearly, and I really couldn't tell the amount of white this bird had on the wing tips (also couldn't tell if the primaries overall were black or dark gray, with the grayer primaries being more commonly observed on Thayer's Gulls). This bird also had the smooth-and-rounded-head, which is something I've picked up on while observing Thayer's Gulls among the slightly bulkier-headed Herring Gulls. Three Common Goldeneyes were seen swimming around, as well as a lone fly-in Common Merganser and two large groups of Mallards (one American Black Duck on the edge too)!
Along the length of Park Point, I had one lone Common Redpoll call as it flew overhead. No Snowy Owls were seen. Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Duluth, MN [email protected] www.pbase.com/birdfedr ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
