Two Rare Gulls

 

November 28th (posted on November 29th)

          We had a rain-soaked twelve-hour drive home from the Hamptons on Sunday where the whole Gordon clan had celebrated Thanksgiving together.  Needless to say, I was less than enthused about the prospect of a long car ride to chase birds on Monday.  However, we had not seen a new bird during the month of November.  A few new birds had turned up, but we were either busy and unable to chase them or we were unsuccessful.

          There were two really special gulls that had been seen on and off for several days in the Cleveland area.  Even though the laundry was calling me, I ignored that, and we left the house about 9:00am. We headed for the Edgewater Marina near downtown Cleveland to look for a Black-headed Gull.  This bird is in nonbreeding plumage, does not have a black head and really blends in with the hundreds of Bonaparte’s Gulls in the area.  It was like looking for a “needle in a haystack” and Mike and I could not find the Black-headed Gull.

          Mike got a notification that a Little Gull had been relocated at Fairport Harbor which was another 40 minutes further east.  We decided to try for that.  After a quick lunch, we arrived there and ran into a posse of five young topnotch Amish birders with great focus and eagle eyes.  The Little Gull had been seen earlier but was flushed and flew away.  Everyone was intensely searching for it.  Finally, one of the Amish lads located the gull and helped us get a distant view of this special bird that was an Ohio lifer for us.

          A Little Gull is the world’s smallest gull with a conspicuous dark underwing. It is primarily a Eurasian species that has a small nesting population along the Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes and is a rarity elsewhere on the continent.

          I overheard one of the Amish guys say that they were headed for Edgewater Marina to look for the Black-head Gull.  We decided to discreetly head back there to see if they could help us find the elusive bird.  We arrived and walked out on the pier where their group was already set up with their scopes scanning the lake.  It took awhile but finally one of them said, “I’ve got it!”  Once again, they helped us locate the bird.  These guys are so good, they made me feel like a total novice.

          The Black-headed Gull is common and widespread across Eurasia.  It is a rare but regular visitor to eastern North America.  It is usually found associating with large flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls.  We have only seen a Black-headed Gull once before in North America.  No photos today.  Both birds were too far away.

(2 new species, total for the year 303)

Little Gull (scarce)

Black-headed Gull (very rare)  



Comments

  1. AnnNovember 30, 2022 at 5:38 AM

    Birding is such a great sport, where all participants help each other succeed. And there is such a feeling of accomplishment when you help someone else find a bird. Great to hear about your successes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 30, 2022 at 2:35 PM

    Congrats. Wow, the Amish birders must have had fast horse carriages.

    ReplyDelete

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