[texbirds] Lesser Black-backed Gull in Smith county today
- From: peter barnes <pbarnes123@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Dennis Scott <scott@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Jessica Coleman <jessicoleman@xxxxxxxxx>, Jamie Cantrell <jcantrell82@xxxxxxxxx>, Cliff Shackelford <cliffordshackelford@xxxxxxxxx>, David Brotherton <birder10050@xxxxxxxxx>, "David E. Wolf" <dewolfnac@xxxxxxxxx>, Dale Hartsfield <fdhartsfield@xxxxxxxxx>, Alice Rhodes <rhodes64@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Eamonn Thurmond <eamonnthurmond@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 16:22:25 -0600
This morning, Eamonn Thurmond and I found a winter adult Lesser
Black-backed Gull, *graellsii *subspecies, on Pleasure Acres Lake in Smith
County. This is in Chapel Hill, east of Tyler. The bird was in the water in
a flock of 400 Ring-billed Gulls. It was quite distant and a scope is
necessary to see the bird well. It was too far away for me to get photos,
but Mike Bloodsworth saw it later and he may post photos if they come out.
The bird was larger than the Ring-billed Gulls, with a longer, heftier
yellow bill, with red on the distal lower mandible. The back of the head
was streaked with brown, the back was medium slate-gray, much darker than
that of the Ring-billed Gulls. The legs were not visible and it was too
distant for us to tell the eye color. This is the first record for Smith
county, as far as I know.
On CR 2133 east of Whitehouse, we had FOS 50 Rusty Blackbirds in a swampy
area by the road.
Peter Barnes
Tyler
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