Here's a post I just sent out to Wisbirdnet, and though I'd share my sighting with all of you, especially those near Lake Superior (Duluth area and in the north neck of the woods). This morning's field ornithology class started out by driving about a minute south of campus, and listening to some Savannah Sparrows and Clay-colored Sparrows in a field. After that, we headed out to Maslowski Beach on Chequamegon Bay where from a distance (without binoculars), there was a non-adult Franklin's/Laughing-looking gull. Before this morning I had never seen a Laughing Gull before, and had some brief experience with Franklin's Gulls both last summer in Grand Forks, ND as well as this summer throughout SD and ND. This gull got my attention right away, and I told that class to focus on the bird, and just soak up the field marks that you see and observe, and not look in the field guide (I'm really excited seeing how far my students have come in the term so far)! So we've got our binoculars fixed on this gull, and after about 5 or so minutes of observing it, we got the Sibley's out. Now since this was my first time seeing a Franklin's Gull, this was a fantastic learning experience for me too :) I'm spending a fair amount of time on IDing gulls with the class, but told them that gull ID is very tricky due to plumage fluctuations throughout their lifetimes (as young gulls, and as the seasons change). We've got Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, and Herring Gull down, emphasizing on the leg color, bill appearance, and body size for the latter two, as well as body size and appearance of the Bonaparte's Gull. The class is also getting a good grasp on the gulls by gull calls too. Basically the things we noted are as follows: This gull shows a hazy wash of dark gray throughout the face (not black like a Franklin's Gull), and lacks a clean cut contrast in the back of the head (Franklin's Gulls show a more solid edge between the dark head and pale neck). This bird had thick white eye crescents. Also, this bird has a pale gray wash throughout the chest region, which is characteristic of non-adult Laughing Gulls. There was even a minor field mark that was visible in the field, and isn't really emphasized (in words anyways) in the Sibley Guide... While looking at the bird from a side profile, the 1st winter (and other non-breeding Laughing Gulls) show a white patch of feathers just above and in front of the flanks. This bird definitely had that marking. One of the most significant fields marks observed was the all-dark primaries on thsi bird. Franklin's Gulls should show some degree of white tips throughout the primaries, depending on age. The adult Franklin's Gulls that I've seen are just stunning with their thick white wing tips. And as a side note, the bill on this bird is quite long (note photos), and Laughing Gulls from the field guides are shown with slightly longer bills than Franklin's Gulls. Here are my best Laughing Gull photos from today http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112443640 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112443641 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112443637 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112443639 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112443642 http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/image/112444830 Here's the three e-bird reports from today. We went from Maslowski Beach, to Long Bridge, and finished up with about 40 minutes of hawkwatching at the visitor center. A lone migrating Peregrine Falcon was observed flying over Long Bridge, as well as another distant one over the visitor center shortly after. Location: Ashland--Maslowski Beach Observation date: 5/12/09 Number of species: 12 Mallard 3 Great Blue Heron 1 Bald Eagle 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Laughing Gull 1 Ring-billed Gull 12 Herring Gull 4 Yellow Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 Chipping Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Location: Ashland--Long Bridge/Head of the bay Observation date: 5/12/09 Number of species: 28 Canada Goose 10 Wood Duck 2 Mallard 3 Blue-winged Teal 3 Green-winged Teal 2 Lesser Scaup 15 Hooded Merganser 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 Spotted Sandpiper 8 Ring-billed Gull 3 Blue Jay 18 Tree Swallow 2 Veery 1 American Robin 1 European Starling 1 Cedar Waxwing 5 Yellow Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 15 Northern Waterthrush 1 Common Yellowthroat 1 Song Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 2 White-throated Sparrow 2 White-crowned Sparrow 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 Bobolink 1 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Common Grackle 10 Location: Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Observation date: 5/12/09 Number of species: 9 Turkey Vulture 3 Bald Eagle 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Broad-winged Hawk 1 Rough-legged Hawk 1 Peregrine Falcon 1 Sandhill Crane 4 Killdeer 2 Ring-billed Gull 2 Good birding, Erik Bruhnke Ashland, WI [log in to unmask] www.pbase.com/birdfedr ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html