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English and Scientific names: |
Glaucous Gull, Larus
hyperboreus
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Number of individuals: |
Single bird
First Winter
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Locality: |
Cameron
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Specific Locality: |
Holly Beach
Community, East End of Egret Road (Street?)/Dead End. Bird was in a Tidal
pool just SE of the end of the road.
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Date(s) when observed: |
September 22,
2010.
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Time(s) of day when observed: |
11:40 AM CDST
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Reporting observer and address: |
Jay V. Huner,
Boyce, LA
71409
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Other observers accompanying
reporter who also identified the bird(s): |
None
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Other observers who
independently identified the bird(s) |
None
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Light conditions (position
of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light): |
Reasonably
clear, light was good and coming from more or less above.
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Optical equipment: |
Zeiss 10 x 40
Binoculars
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Distance to bird(s): |
When first
seen about 30 feet and last seen about 200 yards away.
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Duration of observation: |
Probably about half a minute.
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Habitat: |
Beach next to
Gulf of Mexico - bird was in tidal pool.
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Behavior of bird: |
I drove to the
end of the road and saw a flock of about 20 Laughing Gulls resting in a tidal
pool that was around 30 feet to the SE of where I stopped my truck. As I
stopped and picked up my binoculars to check the shorebirds and gulls in the
pool, a very large white gull leaped from the gull flock up into a strong
southerly wind and veered away from my location about 50 feet, caught the
wind and went sailing down the beach along the wave line.
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Description: |
The bird was a
huge, overall white gull. It dwarfed the Laughing Gulls. I got it focused
with my binoculars as it quartered away from me into the wind. I could tell
it had a light colored bill but COULD not see the bill tip. I could
"imagine" that I saw the diagnostic black bill tip as its head
turned away from me but am simply not sure. While the overall color was
white, the dorsal area was a brownish white - back and wings. The wing tips
were white.
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Voice: |
No call heard. |
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Similar species: |
The overall
white color separated the bird from any of the other larger, expected gulls
reported from time to time in the area. The bird was much larger than an
Iceland Gull.
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Photographs or tape
recordings obtained? |
None - I
barely had time to get a decent look at the bird with my binoculars. There
was no point in chasing the bird. I would have had to start my truck, turn
around, and travel at 15 MPH westward looking for the bird. Yes, maybe it
would have stopped down the beach but it didn't look like it had any interest
in stopping as I saw it go out of sight.
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Previous experience with
this species: |
I have reported, with photos, a first winter Glaucous Gull from Peveto Woods Beach in spring 2009 |
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Identification aids: |
Sibley's Guide and National Geographic Field Guide.
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This description is written from: |
Notes made immediately
after observation on 9-21-10 and memory. |
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Are you positive of your
identification? If not, explain: |
I am. |
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Date and time: |
9-22-10,
5:20 PM. |