This past week, big flocks of gulls gathered on the ice at Porcupine Lake. I decided to go scan them...really scan them. I am ashamed to admit that I've never really felt excited about looking at a group of gulls before. I still did it, but without much enthusiasm. After this week, I can now say that I finally get why some people are excited about gulls.
This week has brought me 3 life gulls (is that even a proper term?) and has made me spend hours with my Sibley Guide which has great detailed gull pictures and descriptions. In 5 days, on top of the regular Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull, we saw GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL and a FRANKLIN'S GULL; all in the same area at Porcupine Lake.
In addition to the abundant Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls we saw the following:
We observed 3 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS: they are not that common in the Timmins area but we do see one or two every year (I used to see them at the Timmins Landfill but I rarely go there anymore after they threw me out a few years ago) They are bigger than the Herring Gulls, they have a darker mantle and pink legs. They also have the yellow bill with the red spot.
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| Great Black-backed Gull / Goéland Marin Porcupine Lake (24 April 2017) |
We also spotted a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, which was a total surprise because they are rare here. It was a first for me. They are slightly smaller than the Herring Gulls (and much smaller than the Great Black-backed Gull) The Lesser Black-backed Gull has yellow legs which is how I was able to i.d. it.
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| Lesser Black-backed Gull / Goéland brun Porcupine Lake (21 April 2017) |
And on the same day, another uncommon gull for our area: The GLAUCOUS GULL. This one is very large: larger than the Herring Gulls (as you can see on the photo: it is sleeping next to Herring Gulls) In its adult plumage, this gull is white with pale grey wings and completely white wing tips. I wish I had better photos but it was amazingly far away and it only got up for 1 second to groom (see 2nd photo). I learned that trying to telepathically encourage a gull to stand up so you can see it's bill and legs doesn't work.
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| Glaucous Gull (surrounded by Herring Gulls) Porcupine Lake (21 April, 2017) |
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| Glaucous Gull / Goéland bourgmestre Porcupine Lake (21 April 2017) |
And, last but not least, the biggest surprise of the week: the FRANKLIN'S GULL! This is a Gull that lives in the Prairies during the summer and migrates to the west coast of South America in the winter. So it was far from its normal range. This was a first for me and for the Timmins area. This small attractive gull has a grey back with white underparts that had a "pink" look to it when compared with the other gulls. The bill is dark red and the legs are almost black. The broken bright white eye ring really stood out.
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| Franklin's Gull / Mouette de Franklin Porcupine Lake (25 April 2017) |
I still have so much to learn about gull identification and the different plumage variations they show according to their age and time of year... but one thing I know for sure: I'm writing a note to myself to check Porcupine Lake every year at the end of April from now on!
