[wisb] Re: Johnson Creek landfill gulls, 12/29/14
- From: "Tom Wood" <tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:30:52 -0600
Yesterday, I sorted through the gulls on the piers at McKinley Marina while
I was birding Veterans Park in Milwaukee. As Jym mentioned, there was not a
lot of variety and one first winter Thayer's Gull and a Great Black-backed
Gull were the only unusual gulls seen. Suddenly, all the gulls took to the
air and I began looking for the predator or boat which might have caused
this disturbance. At first, I could not determine what caused this panic,
but after several minutes I spotted an adult Bald Eagle soaring high and
quite distant, identifiable only with binoculars. "Eagle-eye" has long been
a metaphor for a person with exceptional vision, but this incident gave me
an appreciation for the excellent eyesight of gulls. As Jym, Dave, Jeremy,
and Mike have reported, landfills are the best places to see large numbers
of gulls, and undoubtedly our offal has contributed to the success of the
larid family, but having such great vision certainly must have contributed
to their abundance.
Thomas Wood, Menomonee Falls, Waukesha County
-----Original Message-----
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Jym Mooney & Carol Lee Hopkins
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 1:04 PM
To: Wisbirdn
Subject: [wisb] Johnson Creek landfill gulls, 12/29/14
Having tired of the relative lack of winter gull variety on the Milwaukee
lakefront, I went out to the Johnson Creek landfill in Jefferson County this
morning. I was not disappointed. Hundreds of gulls were loafing on the
large pond's ice just west of the landfill. I scoped the group for an hour
and a half, and the group frequently shifted and changed up as gulls came
and went. In addition to a huge variety of Herring Gulls in varying plumage
stages, I was able to pick out an adult Glaucous Gull, two adult Thayer's
Gulls, three Great Black-backed Gulls (two adults and a first cycle), an
adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, and two (1st and 2nd cycle) Kumlien's
Iceland Gulls. There was also a very interesting bird that I believe is a
good candidate for a Great Black-backed/Herring Gull hybrid. It was about
the size of the HERGs, but its mantle was way too dark gray for that
species. The legs were pink, and the head was clean white with some very
light streaking on the nape.
Overall it resembled a runt GBBG, except that the mantle was far too light
a gray for that species (its mantle was lighter than both the GBBGs and the
LBBG present).
The fun ended when every gull on the ice (plus all of the gulls back in the
landfill) hit the air. I quickly spotted an adult bald eagle overhead,
which circled the area while most of the gulls rose very high into the air
and dispersed.
Jym Mooney, Milwaukee
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