During a two hour-long “lake watch” today from Gull Bluff on Wisconsin  

Point, Douglas County, Wisconsin, I spotted a light-morph subadult  

Pomarine Jaeger chasing a Herring Gull approximately 500 yards north  

of my position. The jaeger continued heading towards me and briefly  

harassed two more Herring Gulls before turning east less than 250  

yards away from my elevated position. I watched the bird through my  

spotting scope for a total of three minutes before it disappeared. A  

second jaeger may have been present in the area. The winds were NW to  

WNW at 20 mph gusting 30–35 mph, and the temperature barely reached  

40º F by noon. I stayed at Gull Bluff for another hour and also  

checked various locations along Park Point and Wisconsin Point  

including the Superior Entry, but never refound the jaeger.



This individual was probably a third-year bird since its blunt,  

rounded central rectrices were not twisted and did not extend as far  

as would be expected for an adult. It showed a complete but ragged  

chest band. Its wingspan was estimated to be the same as that of a  

Ring-billed Gull (the jaeger chased three different Herring Gulls, but  

ignored the Common Terns, Caspian Terns, and Ring-billed Gulls). If  

accepted by the WSO Bird Records Committee, this would provide one of  

the very few spring records of this species in our region. Previous  

reports include an adult seen by Scott and Ann Swengel in Douglas  

County, Wisconsin, 22 May 1997, and an adult or subadult seen by Bob  

Janssen, Don Bolduc, Ray Glassel, and Dick Ruhme at Park Point,  

Duluth, Minnesota, 20 May 1982.



Also seen from Gull Bluff were an alternate-plumaged Red-throated Loon  

and an adult-cycle Thayer's Gull. A first-cycle Glaucous Gull was seen  

on the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry. Five Whimbrels were near  

Lafayette Square on Park Point earlier in the day. Hundreds of  

Bonaparte's Gulls and Common Terns were observed in the Duluth- 

Superior harbor. Gull Bluff can be reached by taking Moccasin Mike  

Road off US 2/US 53 on the east side of Superior. Proceed past the  

Superior Landfill on the unmarked gravel road and then take the first  

left towards the bluff overlooking Lake Superior.



Peder Svingen

Duluth, MN









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