OHIO-BIRDS Archives

December 2015

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kent miller <[log in to unmask]>
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kent miller <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 7 Dec 2015 18:32:22 +0000
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The putative Kelp Gull was not found among the large gull flock again this (Monday) morning. It has not been positively seen since Sunday morning when it left in the 7:30 to 7:45AM range.Due this being a potential state first and a rarity throughout the country, I wanted to share a few musings about relocating this bird; most especially for birders close to Springfield Lake but to the larger area as well.
First and foremost, please keep checking Springfield Lake, especially in the very early morning and late afternoon. The bird left with many gulls around 7:30 Sunday morning and many of the mass of gulls were leaving the lake by the time observers could see at 7:00AM this morning. Morning is when the most gulls are at the lake so ideally we will have local birders here by 7:00AM or earlier for at least the next week watching for this gull. 4:00PM seems to be an active time for gulls to be returning to the lake and often on the roller rink roof.The mass of at least of couple thousand gulls seems to always head SE from Springfield Lake in the morning. It's a pretty long flight but this in the direction of at least 3 landfills in Stark & Tuscarawas counties: Waynesburg landfill off of Rt 44 just north of Waynesburg, Bolivar Landfill between Dueber, Downing, Sherman Church & Gracemont, and Kimble Landfill near the intersection of Rt 39 & Ervin Rd west of New Philadelphia. None of these are easy to bird or always have lots of gulls in view but all are spots to be checking for this gull.Also, any places in close proximity to Springfield Lake where gulls gather should be checked: Portage Lakes, Walborn/Berlin, Sippo, etc.The rest of my musings are highly speculative and go beyond the scope of my knowledge and understandings but I share them solely for the motives of helping as many eyes as possible be watching for the bird and are not to meant to present either an origins hypothesis or IDs of other gulls I have not studied. There are records committees in place for that and much more knowledgeable discussions such as on the North American Gulls Facebook page where wonderfully experienced folks graciously share their wealth of information on the infinitely complex large gulls especially.
With that disclaimer, it seems at least remotely possible strictly by reports I have not too closely studied that there is a Kelp Gull that has been near Ohio for nearly a year at least. Again, my "research" is totally incomplete but I believe there was an accepted Kelp Gull in Pittsburgh this past January, a suspected re-finding of this bird near Wheeling WV the next day, just yards from Ohio, and an October sighting at a Seneca County landfill of another bird suspected of but not proved to be a Kelp.There is a precedent of a Kelp staying in Maryland from 1998-2005; a bird I believe that would disappear for months then return. If I've read correctly, the bird was believed to have, over time spent in Maryland, reversed it's molting schedule from a Southern to a Northern Hemisphere pattern. I have heard at least one person suggest from our poor flight pictures of the Springfield Lake bird that the apparently still-growing primaries may indicate this gull is also in a Northern Hemisphere molt pattern which speculatively could indicate a bird that has been here for a while as opposed to bird blown in by a strong El Nino which is, interestingly, how the Maryland Kelp was speculated to have arrived in Maryland.Again, I can't say it enough, I am not qualified or attempting to propose the theory for the origins of the Springfield Lake Gull nor am I evaluating the ID of these other possible Kelp reports. I am sure it is not hard to put many holes through these musings. I am simply saying it all adds up as extra incentive to be particularly attentive to ANY gull flock in Ohio right now for a black backed gull with a clean white head the size of a Herring Gull.Hopefully we can relocate it, get more folks on it, and get some killer photos.Kent Miiller



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