[mou] Ghost gull of Grand Marais

[Jeff Price]

With Halloween approaching and in the spirit of the
season I offer you this story -

The ghost gull of Grand Marais 
Jeff Price, copyright 2003 all rights reserved

The day of the annual Grand Marais Christmas Bird
Count dawned cold and still.  Since this was Paula’s
first count she was given the lakefront plot - the
lake had frozen early this year and the compiler
thought there probably wouldn’t be much there.  If
Paula saw something she couldn’t identify, like an
immature gull, she was supposed to call the compiler
who would come down to help.  Eager to prove herself,
Paula set up her scope and began scanning the ice. On
her first pass she didn’t see anything.  As she took a
break and poured some coffee from her thermos a few
Snow Buntings flew by.  She dutifully marked those
down on her tally sheet and returned to her scope.

On the second pass a slight movement caught her eye. 
She stopped scanning and focused carefully on the bird
perched out on the ice. It was about the size of a
Ring-billed Gull but it was snow white - no wonder she
had trouble seeing it earlier, it looked like a ghost
it matched the ice so well. Zooming in she could just
make out the dark legs and bill.  Not recognizing the
bird she grabbed her field guide and started flipping
through the pages.  There it was, an Ivory Gull.  She
couldn’t believe it and pulled out her cell phone to
call the compiler.

Sara had real mixed feelings about the call.  On the
one hand, she almost hoped Paula was wrong.  This
sighting was bound to mess up the count.  On the other
hand, it was an Ivory Gull, that nearly mythical ghost
bird of the Arctic.  Sara pulled into the parking lot
and walked over to look through Paula’s scope.  Her
breath caught in her throat and she studied the
magnificent bird.  All she could say was ‘Wow, nice
find Paula.’ 

Regaining her composure she started making calls. This
might mess up the count but she couldn’t keep the bird
a secret, not even for a day.  She only hoped word got
out to the counters in the field so they could swing
by the lakefront - then go back to counting.  She also
made sure that someone posted the information to the
Internet before they headed out.

To: Undisclosed list
From: MOU-NET
Subject: Ivory Gull
An adult Ivory Gull was located on the ice off of the
Grand Marais lakefront this morning.  

The electrifying news went out and within minutes
birders from around the region were calling in sick
and heading for Grand Marais.  Within hours, birders
had set up their scopes and were carefully studying
the bird. A reporter from the local paper even came
out, took some pictures of the birders and headed back
to prepare his story for next week’s paper.

A storm moving into the Cities made Jack late for
work.  He knew he didn’t really have time but still he
checked his E-mail before he was to head to an
all-day, all-office meeting.  He shouldn’t have.  An
Ivory Gull!  This bird had been a nemesis of Jack’s
for years.  He checked his watch and looked out the
window at the falling snow - he might be able to make
it to Grand Marais before dark if he left now. 
Feeling an exceptionally bad case of avian flu coming
on, Jack decided to deal with his boss later, mumbled
excuses to his secretary and dashed out the door.  

Driving faster than he should given the snowy
conditions, Jack actually made it to the harbor with a
little time to spare.  He became concerned by the lack
of birders and sure enough, the bird was nowhere to be
seen, at least not through binoculars.  Mounting his
scope on his car’s window he scanned the ice -
nothing. Driving along the harbor he kept stopping and
scanning - still no gull.  Moving along the lakefront
he stopped and scanned again.  Finally, some movement
caught his eye.  Cranking the scope up to 60x, maximum
power, he saw it, barely making it out against the
ice.

This bird had eluded Jack for so long he really wanted
a better look.  The weather had been unusually cold
for most of late fall and early winter and Jack hoped
that maybe, just maybe, the ice had frozen enough to
let him walk out on it.  Cautiously at first, then
moving ever faster, Jack walked out on the ice toward
the bird, gradually getting farther and farther from
shore.  The light was fading fast when Jack finally
got close enough to really see and appreciate the
bird.  It was then that he noticed that the bird was
sitting on a floe – Jack was at the edge of the ice.

By now other birders from the Cities had arrived. 
Seeing Jack’s car parked along the lakeshore they
pulled up behind it.  An offshore wind had kicked up
and it was brutally cold. It didn’t matter what the
conditions were; this was an Ivory Gull. Quickly, they
pulled their scopes out of the car and started
scanning.  They saw Jack out on the ice and watched
him through their scopes as he turned and carefully
started back toward shore - watching in disbelief as a
crack formed between Jack and the shore.  

Jack became concerned when the wind picked up and grew
more concerned when he heard a sort of grinding sound.
 Looking toward shore he stared in horror at the black
line forming between him and safety. Sprinting forward
he quickly stopped when he realized he couldn’t
possibly jump across the rapidly growing patch of icy
open water between him and the shore. The wind had
fractured the ice and Jack was now on a floe drifting
out into Lake Superior. 

Grabbing their cell phones the birders quickly got
through to the Coast Guard.  A helicopter was
dispatched and the birders told to stay where they
were to help guide it into place.  By this time all
the birders could see was the faint outline of Jack
and his frantically waving a flashlight back and forth
toward shore.

The Coast Guard searched for hours until the
helicopter was grounded by the wind.  At dawn the next
morning the birders were back along the lakeshore and
the Coast Guard continued their search – but neither
Jack, nor the Ivory Gull was ever seen again.  The
ghost gull of the Arctic had moved on.

Every winter, birders in Grand Marais report seeing a
ghostly figure way out on the ice, looking through a
spotting scope.  Sometimes, looking toward the lake on
a clear night you may even see a small light waving
frantically back and forth. And whenever a visiting
birder reports seeing a white bird out on the ice -
local birders know not to get too excited - it’s only
a ghost.


=====
Jeff Price
Boulder, CO
jtpbirder@yahoo.com

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