At the Adam Beck generating station this afternoon around 2:30 I observed what appeared to be a "Greenland" Iceland Gull. It was an adult basic bird with clean white flight feathers, medium amount of brown streaking throughout the head, and it was circling around the turbid waters below. I must have watched it for a good 10 mins with my 10x42 bins, and a further five mins with my scope at 60x . During the whole observation, not once did I get the impression that the bird could have been a Glaucous gull. This is a very difficult identification of course and I am very hesitant to say that I am 100% sure of my id, but I had been thinking about this gull recently given that there have been no reports since Bruce Di Labio's sighting a few weeks prior. All the proportions seemed perfect for an Iceland gull and nothing about the bird gave off the bulky appearance of the typical Glaucous gull. In late November, I was watching adults of both species flying by me in James bay, so I am recently familiar with id'ing them. Hopefully someone will be able to find this bird at rest in the days to come for further confirmation. A valiant attempt was made to re-find the slaty-backed gull very soon after it was reported, but it no longer appeared the be present. I also spent time looking for the California gull which apparently has been seen recently on the roosting rocks near sir Adam beck, but there was no sign of this bird either.
At the control gates, there were no less than 10 lesser black backed gulls, mostly adults. The snowy owl in st. Catherine's was still present until dusk. So that's a wrap folks, it's been an interesting Big Year to say the least! Happy New Year from the QEW. Andrew Keaveney 647-383-8894 uofgtwitc...@msn.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
