Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fun at the Dump

Why would I go to a dump if not to drop off garbage? To look at the gulls, of course! John, Kirk and I headed up to the Sault landfill today, after a quick stop at Kirk's place where we found 2 Fox Sparrows. The dump turned out to be a good idea - we had a second-year Thayer's on the roof of the entrance building! By the end of the morning we'd racked up this list:

Thayers - 6 (1 adult, 2 second-year, 3 first-year)
Iceland (Kumlien's) - 1 (first-year)
Glaucous - 1 (adult)
Great Black-backed - 1 (first-year)
Ring-billed - 100+
Herring - 1000+

The adult Thayer's and adult Glaucous are super-early birds, the former doesn't usually show up till mid-December and the latter in mid-November. GBB is fairly rare around here, as are Thayer's - Iceland (Kumlien's) is usually the most common northern gull.

Great Black-backed Gull 1st-year
Adult Thayer's Gull - note the white underwing
Three different 1st-year Thayer's Gulls
Adult Glaucous Gull
Weird "Pink-billed" Gull (herring)

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