Hi Doug and all,
Ironically, I had made a post about Bonaparte's Gulls on my blog a few hours
before you posted this note. Your observation prompted to me to add some
other photos and an explanation of what is going on with the Bonaparte's
Gulls, and in the case of your observations, grebes.
I have witnessed the same phenomenon many times on Lake Erie, although the
gull encounters usually involved feeding Common Loons. You can see some
photos of Bonies caught in the act of exploiting the hard work of loons, and
an explanation for the behavior, at my blog:
http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/
Thanks for posting the interesting observations!
Jim
Jim McCormac
Columbus, Ohio
Like Nature? http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/
Like Birds? http://www.ohiobirds.org/
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Doug Overacker" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 06, 2011 7:00 PM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Interesting Gull Behavior
> Julie Karlson and I stopped near the Corps of Engineers Visitor Center at
> Buck Creek State Park this morning to scan the lake for waterbirds. I
> started scanning the lake and spotted some Horned Grebes. A Bonaparte's
> Gull
> was there with them. I scanned some more and found another Horned Grebe
> also
> accompanied by a Bonaparte's Gull. Then I found a Pied-billed Grebe and it
> was also accompanied by a Bonaparte's Gull. I watched the grebe dive and
> the
> gull flew. Soon the grebe came up and the gull landed right next to it.
> Again the grebe dove and the gull flew only to land next to the grebe when
> it came up. It repeated this one more time while I watched. My guess is
> that
> if any of the grebes came up with a small fish the gull would try to claim
> it. Are there any other explanations?
>
> Doug Overacker
> Springfield, Ohio
>
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