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FIELD NOTES
Winter 04-05

A 'dark' 1st Winter Glaucous Gull; only Sibley portrays both pale and dark birds of this age.

25 Jan 05 / calm winds / overcast / 28 Deg. F

I was at E. 72nd St./E.55th from 9:45 to 12:15 today, and was accompanied by Jen Brumfield for about 90 minutes or so. For those who visit here often and know just how the site can be when all the factors of wind, ice, dying fish come together to bring large numbers of large gulls right to the shoreline ... well today was very close to perfection. Those more interested in a variety of oddball birds would have been disappointed but for photography, conditions were outstanding ... not the least being temperatures warm enough that I could shoot away without gloves and a winter coat for a couple of hrs.

The Gull highlight was a 3rd winter California Gull that spent 2 HOURS immediately below the crosswalk over the warm water effluent from the power plant. Jen spotted this bird as something different from clear back at the parking lot. We ultimately moved up on the bird which remained the entire time generally 10-15 yards away. I am presently processing (making web ready) the digital zoom images and hope to have these posted by this evening.

Two different 1st winter Glaucous Gulls were present. A single Bonaparte's Gull made a few passes. Other wise there was a dramatic depletion of gulls over the hoard here last week. There were no more than 600 Great Black-backed Gulls (and this time I scoped the horizon). Several hundred Ring-billed Gulls were in the vicinity of the E.55th but at the warm water outlet only 6 were present amidst 500 Herring Gulls. Another 2500 Herring Gulls lined a half-mile long lead off the outer breakwall. In between E.55th and E.72nd (as viewed from E. 55th) a concentration of gulls included an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Also present at the outlet

  
Double-crested Cormorant - 1 (two more were seen a half mile out flopping
about the ice)
Lesser Scaup - 12
Bufflehead - 8
Common Goldeneye - 31
Red-breasted Merganser - 44
Canada Goose - 1 (plus 100+ at E. 55th)

from 12:45 to 1:15 I also inventoried Eastlake with the following results

Great Blue Heron - 6 (on the ice)
Mallard - 40 
Lesser Scaup - 130
Great Scaup - 47
Bufflehead - 11
Common Goldeneye - 12
Red-breasted Merganser - 115
Common Mergnaser - 2670
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 
     (on the ice; photographed approaching a Great Black-backed Gull and
its fish)
Bald Eagle - 1 3rd winter (a half mile out on the ice)
American Coot - 1

gulls were very disappointing

Great Black-backed Gull - 141
Ring-billed Gull - 1200
Herring Gull - 1800


The vast majority of these birds were far out on the ice; only 150 gulls
were present
inshore for study.

1st Winter (above) and adult (below) Great Black-backed Gulls

Simply click on the images for FULL SCREEN versions

In time, I will have pages dedicated to these species.