Hello everyone, At about 4:35 this evening, I found an immature sabine's gull sitting on the water in the Erieau Marina. It was mixed in with approximately 6000 bonaparte's gulls but was easy to pick out, given its dark colour when sitting. I got photos from about 10 metres that turned out a bit fuzzy (it was dark and VERY windy standing on the dock..........that's what I'm blaming them on, anyway). One of the photos can be seen on Ebird now. Also in the flock was a bonaparte's gull with a hood. At about 4:50, a male peregrine flew through the marina and scared up all the gulls, including the sabine's and I never saw it again. The bonaparte's and their close relatives (still waiting for some of them) seem to come into the harbour from the bay or the lake just before sunrise where they feed on minnows for a while. Some of them stay there all day. Today, many thousands of them left for the bay and inland fields about 9:30. When I returned at 4:30 this evening, they all appeared to have returned and there seemed to be more than there were this morning. Usually, but not always, mornings and evenings are best here for numbers of gulls. One of the sabine's here in early October stayed in the harbour area for a couple of days.
Directions: Erieau is in Chatham-Kent at the southeast end of County Rd 12 (Erieau Rd). When in town, turn left at the first stop sign. Take a quick right onto Vidler Ave and follow it to the end where it meets up with Kerr Ave. Turn right. The harbour area is behind Barnier's Boats and the liquor store at the end of Kerr Ave. When I saw the sabine's, it was floating in the water behind the tug named "Linda Jane", but this entire area is worth checking. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
