[mou] WI Point (Superior, WI) arctic sightings w/ Photos

[Erik Bruhnke]

This morning at Wisconsin Point, I had a good look at gulls at the landfill
and was treated to what seemed like endless amounts of redpolls. Throughout
the length of the point, I observed at least 600 redpolls.  At one specific
point, there was gathering of multiple redpoll flocks that easily could have
numbered 400 or more (in one huge group of birds in flight)! I've never seen
so many at one time! One Rough-legged Hawk was hanging out in a tree
alongside the first parkinglot on WI Point. Nearby were two Pine Grosbeaks.
Over a dozen Common Mergansers were seen on the lake-side of WI Point, in
addition to a few distant Common Goldeneyes.

At the landfill I had a 3rd winter/adult nonbreeding GLAUCOUS GULL. I viewed
this bird for a few brief moments, and the white primaries with a pale gray
back really stood out. I was unable to see the bird's bill, and didn't
happen to catch the amount of markings on the bird's head, or see it's bill
in time to confirm it's age. It was facing away from me, then flushed with
the many other nearby gulls. I also had a GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL at the
landfill. It looks very similar to the individual I found last week.They're
so darn cool!


Now here's the thing... I got my photographs up on pbase from this morning
and last week's sightings, but they're unedited (only cropped). I'll tweak
the photos a bit once I get the software on this new computer. This link
will take you to the gull and duck photos (Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter,
and White-winged Scoter in there too). Enjoy!

http://www.pbase.com/birdfedr/temp_bird_photos_11182008


Good birding,

Erik Bruhnke
Duluth, MN
birdfedr at gmail.com
www.pbase.com/birdfedr
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