It's amazing to get these insights into the lives of individual wild birds. This example reminds me of an even longer run, by the Lesser Black-backed Gull that returned this fall for its 16th winter at Ninigret Pond, Rhode Island. That bird was also an adult when first found and is therefore at least 19 years old (maybe Steve will give me a break here and desist from publicly questioning my infatuation with this particular individual!).
But seriously, the lives of these two birds have spanned a period in which the overall statuses of their respective species in our region have changed in fascinating ways. When the Ninigret Pond Lesser Black-backed Gull was first found, this species was known to us mostly as a rare to scarce winter resident, with long-lived, territorial adults accounting for a large proportion of all observations of the species in our area (many readers undoubtedly remember Lester from Shinnecock Inlet, Larry from Napeague, and Lizaveta from Navy Road, Montauk). Sixteen years later, over-wintering birds are only slightly more numerous than they were then, but passage migrants and over-summering immatures have increased exponentially in abundance. Meanwhile, Black-headed Gulls seem to have become scarcer, possibly because the Bonaparte's Gull flocks in which many used to be embedded have themselves diminished. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: bounce-123118012-3714...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-123118012-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Hugh McGuinness [hdmcguinn...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 11:50 AM To: michael.schri...@gmail.com Cc: NYSBIRDS-L Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Black-headed Gull, Conscience Bay, Old Field It must be at least ten years ago that Doug Futuyma (I think), Peter Scully (I think) and I first found what must be the same individual on the Smithtown Christmas Bird Count. My earliest record in e-bird was from 27 Dec 2008, but I have only submitted but small fraction of my records to e-bird, so I am not sure that was the earliest date. When first found, the bird was already in adult plumage, so if my assumption is correct, this individual is at least 12 years old. Mt memory also says we first found it in nearby Flax Pond. Hugh On Mon, Nov 19, 2018 at 10:53 AM Michael Schrimpf <michael.schri...@gmail.com<mailto:michael.schri...@gmail.com>> wrote: Hi all, This morning I found a Black-headed Gull on Conscience Bay, in Old Field (Setauket). It's a non-breeding adult, and was sticking close to the west side of the bay, occasionally flying among the groups of ducks. I was observing from my yard, and unfortunately there isn't anywhere for the public to park along that part of Old Field Road, though you can park at Kaltenborn Commons (here<https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B057'04.5%22N+73%C2%B007'35.7%22W/@40.951244,-73.1271345,159m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d40.951243!4d-73.126586>) and walk north along the road. The bay is visible at several points from the road. Given that the bird seemed willing to move around, it might be worth keeping an eye on Old Field Point and Frank Melville Park, if it can't be found on the bay. I wonder if this might be one of the same birds that was found along that stretch of the North Shore last winter as well...? Here is my eBird checklist, with fairly distant photo of the bird: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50049343 The remnants of the Bobwhite flock that I had reported on eBird several times earlier in the summer was there as well, pretending to be rocks :-) Michael Schrimpf Suffolk County -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> ABA<http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Hugh McGuinness Washington, D.C. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> ABA<http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
