[TN-Bird] Re: Polk County gull
- From: Michael Todd <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "rhoulk@xxxxxxxxxxx" <rhoulk@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 21:06:04 -0700 (PDT)
Rick,
Thanks to you and other sharing the details of this sighting. I saw the initial
photos of yours also, and like Chris, couldn't have made a positive ID from
those, as is often the case with long-range photos. I'm glad Stephen was able
to get some detail of the bird's underwing, with what I took to be dark other
than the trailing edge. I was a bit surprised initially that the bird was seen
in flight, and no dark areas were seen. It has been noted that this can be hard
to discern at the wrong angle etc. My experience is mostly from a couple of
trips to east Asia (and a couple of ABA birds), but my experience was that even
at a distance, though the exact pattern wasn't apparent, at least a dusky area
was usually notable in the outer primaries, not just a dark trailing edge on a
uniformly page underwing shown by all Bony's.
The difference in the shape of the hood in these 2 species (to me) is very
subtle, and depending on posture Bonaparte's can easily show a hood shaped like
typical Black-headed. Several things do make your bird sound like a
Black-headed, hope it does come back and further photos can be taken. Any
possible flight shots would be very interesting.
Thanks again for sharing, and getting the word out!
Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
www.pbase.com/mctodd
________________________________
From: rick houlk <rhoulk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 11:39 AM
Subject: [TN-Bird] Polk County gull
I was at Parksville Lake again this morning. No gull sighting. The only species
present were swallows. Barn, Cliff and Tree. The water levels are up because of
recreational releases on the Ocoee River. The levels may drop after today
exposing the mud bars again. I will continue checking and posting for a couple
more days.
I observed this gull from 0805 hours until 1200 hours on Friday. The bird was
sitting or walking the majority of this time. When it finally flew we did not
see any dark areas under the wings. The gull did not soar high above the water
so the glare and sun made it difficult. The size, shape of the hood and bill
are not consistent with the breeding plumage Bonaparte's I have seen. When I
first found the gull it was with a group of 25+ Blue-winged teal. The gull was
as large or larger than the male teal. The legs were bright red. We did observe
red in the bill at certain angles. The shape of the hood and the size of the
gull is what alerted me that it was not a Bonaparte's.
The photos I have are grainy. These have been passed around. When I returned
Friday afternoon I heard someone took some photos of the gull in flight. Are
those photos available?
Thanks to everyone for their comments and input on this gull...
Rick Houlk
Polk County
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