Over the noon hour today Iain Rayner found an adult Slaty-backed Gull on Little Lake in Peterborough. Don Sutherland and I were able to see it before it flew north with a Herring Gull at 1:40 pm and observed many field marks which were consistent with the identification to that species. To my knowledge it has not been refound at this point despite some searching but there aren't many places where gulls routinely congregate in Peterborough at this time of year other than Little Lake (numbers usually peak around lunch time each day with gulls gradually filtering away through the afternoon). It's possible it will return in subsequent days but there is daily turnover here and we speculate some of "our" gulls also visit places on Lake Ontario such as Cobourg Harbour.
The bird was viewed from the Mark St. boat launch as well as from Edgewater Boulevard. Good birding, Mike Burrell -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Ontbirds is reserved for sightings of provincially rare birds. To post a message on Ontbirds, send an email to: birdalert@ontbirds.ca. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Ontbirds Moderators by email at birdal...@ofo.ca. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To edit your membership settings visit the Ontbirds setup page at: http://ontbirds.ca/mailman/listinfo/birdalert_ontbirds.ca. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
