|
English
and Scientific names: |
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
|
|
Number
of individuals: |
1 adult |
|
Locality:
LOUISIANA: |
Red River |
|
Specific
Locality: |
Lock and Dam No. 4 - flying above the Red River near the big pond ~ 0.5 mile in from LA 1 |
|
Date(s)
when observed: |
12 October 2006 |
|
Time(s)
of day when observed: |
9:10 a.m. |
|
Reporting
observer and address: |
Jim Ingold Shreveport, LA |
|
Other observers
accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s): |
Charles R. (Dick) Bruer, Huntsville Alabama |
|
Other observers who
independently identified the bird(s) |
|
|
Light conditions
(position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light): |
Overcast in good light |
|
Optical
equipment: |
Fujinon 80 ED scope zoomed to 60x |
|
Distance
to bird(s): |
150 yards |
|
Duration
of observation: |
60 seconds |
|
Habitat:
|
open sky over the Red River |
|
Behavior
of bird: |
Bird was flying towards the observers high above the river near tree top level - flight was slow but strong |
|
Description: |
The bird was observed flying towards us while we were looking at a Roseate Spoonbill sitting in a tree. The bird was HUGE! It looked to be the size of the spoonbill as it came closer to it! A very large gull; very white underparts dark black wings and upper body. The head was white with a dark looking crecent shaped bar behind the eye; the eye appeared dark. The trailing edge of the wing was white. The gull book says they "fly ponderously slow, with eagle-like wingbeats>" In retrospect, that is what I saw, since when the bird first caught my eye I thought it might be a raptor - before the gullness of it's being came through! |
|
Voice: |
Not heard |
|
Similar species: |
Lesser Black-backed Gull: with the size comparison to the spoonbill the observed bird was too large to be a Lesser Black-backed Gull |
|
Photographs or tape
recordings obtained? |
None |
|
Previous experience with
this species: |
I grew up with this species, in my beginning birdwatching days, along the shores of Lake Erie in NW Pennsylvania |
|
Identification
aids: |
after observation: Sibley; Olsen and Larsson: Gulls of North America, Europe, and
Asia |
|
This
description is written from: |
Memory |
|
Are you positive of your
identification? If not, explain: |
YES |
|
Reporter:
|
Jim Ingold
|
|
Date
and time: |
12 October 2006 |