I birded 72nd for a little more than two hours this morning between 10:15 and 12:30. It was really great today. I've birded this spot three mornings of '08. The 1st was insane with snow, biting wind and snow and pounding surf. The 2nd was better, but windy. Today the breeze was light, conditions were good and the birds were numerous. I saw at least six different Glaucous gulls, all plumages represented; and at least four Iceland gulls, all of mine were first and second winter birds. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were less well represented, three or four different birds, all adults.  I had a second year Thayer's on the 2nd, but not today. Others reported seeing one.

The most interesting bird by far was what I presume to be either a hybrid or aberrant plumage Glaucous. Structurally and plumage wise it is a dead ringer for adult Glaucous except that it has very pale brown primary feathers. It is quite distinctive. I watched the bird at length at rest and in flight. The pale brown primaries have a window (like Herring), but the low contrast makes it a little tough to see, most notable from below. I only managed to capture one picture of the bird  (holding my digital point and shoot up to the scope before the batteries died). I will post it to the forum, but it's really pretty poor. I hope someone else gets to see this bird and can give their thoughts.

I think I might head back up after a bite of lunch to look for this bird again (with recharged batteries!).


Ben Fambrough
Petit Soleil Catering
(216) 990-9162
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http://petitsoleilblog.blogspot.com/

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