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Post by birder1942 on Nov 12, 2007 11:08:12 GMT -8
Since I live in the area, I thought I'd try to find the Ivory Gull again. It was located a little east of its earlier location. Travel east on Page Road to Hayton Road, a short dead end road heading North, thus left off Page. The bird was with a large flock of gulls, but near the road. This was between 10-11. Good birding, John Vooys. PS. I'll try to see if I can find it from time to time this week.
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Post by josterhold on Nov 12, 2007 12:47:48 GMT -8
hello birders myself and about ten other birders had a great views of the ivory gull this morning where john vooys had relocated it(thanks john!) the gull did fly away heading east but did see it again just north of swanson rd. and page rd. i agree with brent that it is a beautiful gull and found its ghostly white plumage striking as it banked in flight against the dark grey clouds. it would have made an awesome photo. also, here was a barn swallow that flew by over the large barn. further down page rd. there were approx. 700 geese; which half being cackling geese, 2 snow geese and 1 greater white-fronted goose. a peregrine falcon flew back and forth over the flock a few times. a congrats to thor who had a great gulling weekend with the ivory and lesser black-backed.
jason
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Post by Gord on Nov 12, 2007 14:08:36 GMT -8
Thanks for the updates, John! Keep us posted on what you see. It will be interesting to see if it hangs around for a while. Great sightings Jason! After family photos in Abbotsford, I managed to talk the family into allowing a quick detour on the way back home. Assuring that there would be no need to leave the car certainly helped considering the short walk from mall doors to car was anything but fun. Dave kept me updated an hour sooner as to where it was last seen so that was the destination. On Bell Road on the way there was a good flock but nothing exciting as a Ivory Gull (actually, could there be much more exciting though...?) On Page Rd a flock of gulls were spread out over the field. Looking through produced a nice Western Gull but not what I was looking for. I decided to go down a short road to get a new vantage point and as I drove up, I could see it from quite a distance away. It was the closet gull in the whole flock to the road. Amazing! I would liked to have tried a digiscoping but considering the ridiculous winds and rain I passed on it. Opening the window caused rain drops to be blown right through my window to hit my dear wife, probably removing in the few seconds misadventure, a good 5 minutes from her Birdwatching Patience Bank. I snapped a couple quick pictures, gazed happily at it a bit longer, thanked my family warmly for putting up with me and headed home.
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Post by Dave on Nov 12, 2007 15:11:29 GMT -8
Hello fellow birders, As Gord mentioned already, I had great views of my life IVORY GULL today! Thanks go to John Vooys for not only finding the bird, but also alerting all of us of the find. 10 vehicles were spread all over the area searching through various flocks, but it did not take long for news to travel! What a fun group we had out there this morning. I have to admire Jason's talent of pulling up to the area the moment the gull had been spotted.....the rest of us put in some effort at least. Heehee. Anyway, we had awesome views, including some beautiful flight views with the dark mountains as a backdrop. So glad that Gord got the bird as well. Here are 3 of the 75 pictures. (My wife wasn't getting wet). Dave P.S. Gord, you will always look at that family picture with IVORY in your mind.
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Post by tmanson on Nov 12, 2007 15:48:16 GMT -8
Gord, and Dave: Thanks for the photos of the Ivory, something I was not able to accomplish yesterday. Dave the full frame shot really shows what a beautiful bird this is. We're so lucky to have the opportunity to see it, without traveling to the Great Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland. Not that that would be a bad thing, but having lived in NFLD/LABRADOR for 5 years, I know that November can be a little on the chilly side!! Cheers, Thor
Thor Manson Hope, B.C.
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Post by cwjury on Nov 13, 2007 17:01:04 GMT -8
Spent the day looking for the ivory gull- it was seen at 9am at page and sims- unfortunatley I did not arrive till 930. Was last seen flying south and was not seen the rest of the day by many birders. In the afternoon a farmer was fertilizing farther down page near sanderg (not sure of the name). Anyways 1000s of gull massed aroud that field- but did not see the ivory. We did however see a slaty-backed gull- did not see it take flight- but we are 90% sure. Several birders saw. Also saw a flock of 40-50 T swans and one american pipet. Will try again in the morning for the ivory gull.
Cliff Backyard Birding Stores Abbotsford & Chilliwack
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Post by birdman on Nov 13, 2007 21:23:59 GMT -8
Hi Everyone, Fantastic pictures and stories regarding the Ivory Gull!!! I hope to be able to see another one of these gems again soon. Maybe even this bird. Please keep the update posts coming! Does anyone have a count of how many people have seen this bird and how far away people have travelled??? Cheers! Birdman
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Post by Gord on Nov 14, 2007 23:43:43 GMT -8
Birdman, there was a fellow from Alberta looking today. Im assuming as I did not speak to him but his car sure looked like it had made such a trip!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2007 9:05:46 GMT -8
Yes, Birdman, I spoke with the birder from Alberta, and he said he made the trip to look for the gull and also for some birds on Vancouver Island. I think he said he was from Calgary.
There was a fellow from Bellingham there, and two other vehicles from Washington.
Unfortunately none of them saw the bird Wednesday morning.
You probably saw the report on Tweeters of two guys from Seattle who saw the bird Tuesday morning, perhaps the last reported sighting to date.
Stan
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2007 10:00:08 GMT -8
I thought it would be helpful to change the topic line slightly, to avoid misleading the people who still want to find the gull. I agree, Gord, that there are a lot of places the search could be expanded to. I have checked the large sandbar in the middle of the Fraser, visible from the dyke at the east end of Page Road, a couple of times, as I have a hunch some of the local gulls may use this as a night roost. There are usually quite a few gulls present during the day, but obviously close views aren't possible there. There are usually smaller numbers of gulls in fields to the east of the places it has been seen. There are lots more fields to the south of Fore Road and also lots to the west of Hwy 11 but there don't seem to be as many gulls in those areas, at least the last few days when I've checked some parts of the area. Other areas nearby would include Hatzic Prairie, Nicomen Island, Sumas Prairie, Glen Valley, even Chilliwack area. All these areas have farm fields similar to Matsqui Prairie, some of which could be freshly manured and could attract gulls from the local population. I really don't know, but I wouldn't be surpised that a gull would move around that much., especially with the windy days we've had. Maybe after having a relatively easy time finding this rarity in the first day or two, we will have to get used to the idea of a wider search if we are going to be fortunate enough to be "local hosts" for such a sought-after bird for a while yet. Secretly I'm hoping it will settle down at Mill Lake Park in Abbotsford, so we can have a good chance of finding it on our Christmas Bird Count. Maybe we could plant a walrus carcase there to attract it. Stan
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