Mime-Version: |
1.0 |
Sender: |
|
Subject: |
|
From: |
|
Date: |
Sat, 7 Nov 2009 19:47:42 -0700 |
Content-Transfer-Encoding: |
quoted-printable |
Content-Type: |
text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 |
Reply-To: |
|
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
This morning I got out gull-watching at sunrise, and had a fantastic time!
For about the first half of my time this morning, I observed, then counted
the gulls. Herring Gulls made up the majority of the gulls seen, with
Ring-billed Gulls mixed in. Then one gull flew over with just
pale-as-could-be wings. I thought Thayer's or Iceland. After getting to
study the bird much closer, I was able to say Iceland Gull for this one
individual! Note the short bill, very pale primaries (paler than the overall
wings), and scrawled/detailed tertials. Tertials are the section of feathers
that just slightly overlap bird's tail (while the bird is perched). I just
got into gulls last winter, but since then, I'm really getting the
differences between Iceland Gulls and Thayer's Gulls. Also, the Iceland
Gulls are more petite-proportioned, whereas the just slightly larger
Thayer's Gulls tend to be a little more robustly-proportioned with the head
and body size.
Here's my checklist from about 1 1/2 hours of gull watching:
Location: Duluth--Canal Park
Observation date: 11/7/09
Number of species: 6
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Ring-billed Gull 45
Herring Gull 264
Iceland Gull 1
European Starling 1
House Sparrow 2
Here are my photos from today!
http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/park_pointcanal_park_2009
Good birdwatching,
Erik Bruhnke
Duluth, MN
[log in to unmask]
NATURALLY AVIAN - Guided bird tours & bird photography
----
Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
|
|
|