Post by Gord on Jan 27, 2007 20:59:49 GMT -8
Headed out this afternoon for some local birding.
Sardis Pond was busy with the birds of interest were some American goldfinches and two greater white-fronted geese.
Out to east Chilliwack. The gyrfalcon was in what's beginning to be his/her usual spot on Banford Rd south of Prairie Central Rd.
On my way towards the Vedder River for a little fishing I stopped to check a huge flock of gulls resting in a field at the west end of McGuire Rd where it meets Chilliwack River Rd. There were easily 5000 birds here and they were not really feeding, but enjoying the sun.
On my first pan though, and this is where it gets interesting, I spotted this guy. It was a little bit smaller than everyone else around it and I right away gave him the handle "stumpy". It popped right into my head which would turn out to be interesting as I consulted notes and the bird guide after. It was an adult bird, similar to a Thayer's gull (I had seen several in the flock already, infact there was a juvenile right next to it) but the bill looked much shorter, head rounder and it just looked different in the way of body proportions making it look like a very 'compact' gull (thus his handle of 'stumpy'). There were dark on its wings, but the dark bars, not really black but close, were almost if not definately smaller than the white bars. I could not tell the colour of the eye. This bird is something I havnt seen before, either it's an iceland gull or a very funny looking Thayer's gull (which, being realistic, is a strong possibilty over iceland). Much to my disgust as I was setting up the digiscope setup, most of the flock closest to me got up and flew around for no apparent reason. Most landed further down the field but a few hundred took off. It would have been nice to see this bird's wingtips in flight.
So I started again and sorted through the flock (and this is where it gets even more interesting!). A western gull adult and juvenile were of note until I hit upon another very dark, if not darker than the western nearby, backed gull but this one had streaks on its head! An adult bird from what I could tell at the distance and I strongly feel this has a very good chance of being a slaty-backed gull. The head streak pattern were not like the one from last winter, but somewhat close and looking at pictures on the net I fould several that were very similar. Again, no eye colour could be seen as this bird was even further out than the iceland/runt Thayer's gull was. So out comes the tylenol bottle for some pictures when 2/3 of the flock 'closest' to me gets up, for no apparent reason, flies around a bit and most, save for a few hundred, land again yet further away. Grrrrrr!!!! 
It would have been nice to see this bird's wingtips...
So I start again, but now they're really far out there and the light, not the best to begin with (I dont like 'gulling' on sunny days as the shadows makes it tough unless the sun's at my back, but then again, all the birds are in the same light) was getting poor. But this was the least of my worries and once again a bunch got up and repeated what they did before; moving in huge numbers to the south deeper into the fields and away from my (or any) vantage point.
I plan to check things out tomorrow afternoon again. I hope the flock is more cooperative and closer. I didnt catch any fish btw.
Sardis Pond was busy with the birds of interest were some American goldfinches and two greater white-fronted geese.
Out to east Chilliwack. The gyrfalcon was in what's beginning to be his/her usual spot on Banford Rd south of Prairie Central Rd.
On my way towards the Vedder River for a little fishing I stopped to check a huge flock of gulls resting in a field at the west end of McGuire Rd where it meets Chilliwack River Rd. There were easily 5000 birds here and they were not really feeding, but enjoying the sun.
On my first pan though, and this is where it gets interesting, I spotted this guy. It was a little bit smaller than everyone else around it and I right away gave him the handle "stumpy". It popped right into my head which would turn out to be interesting as I consulted notes and the bird guide after. It was an adult bird, similar to a Thayer's gull (I had seen several in the flock already, infact there was a juvenile right next to it) but the bill looked much shorter, head rounder and it just looked different in the way of body proportions making it look like a very 'compact' gull (thus his handle of 'stumpy'). There were dark on its wings, but the dark bars, not really black but close, were almost if not definately smaller than the white bars. I could not tell the colour of the eye. This bird is something I havnt seen before, either it's an iceland gull or a very funny looking Thayer's gull (which, being realistic, is a strong possibilty over iceland). Much to my disgust as I was setting up the digiscope setup, most of the flock closest to me got up and flew around for no apparent reason. Most landed further down the field but a few hundred took off. It would have been nice to see this bird's wingtips in flight.
So I started again and sorted through the flock (and this is where it gets even more interesting!). A western gull adult and juvenile were of note until I hit upon another very dark, if not darker than the western nearby, backed gull but this one had streaks on its head! An adult bird from what I could tell at the distance and I strongly feel this has a very good chance of being a slaty-backed gull. The head streak pattern were not like the one from last winter, but somewhat close and looking at pictures on the net I fould several that were very similar. Again, no eye colour could be seen as this bird was even further out than the iceland/runt Thayer's gull was. So out comes the tylenol bottle for some pictures when 2/3 of the flock 'closest' to me gets up, for no apparent reason, flies around a bit and most, save for a few hundred, land again yet further away. Grrrrrr!!!!
It would have been nice to see this bird's wingtips...So I start again, but now they're really far out there and the light, not the best to begin with (I dont like 'gulling' on sunny days as the shadows makes it tough unless the sun's at my back, but then again, all the birds are in the same light) was getting poor. But this was the least of my worries and once again a bunch got up and repeated what they did before; moving in huge numbers to the south deeper into the fields and away from my (or any) vantage point.
I plan to check things out tomorrow afternoon again. I hope the flock is more cooperative and closer. I didnt catch any fish btw.
