[rba] [mou] Little Gull and Sabine's Gull, Lake Bemidji, Beltrami County

[Johnson, Douglas]

This afternoon, Sunday, September 14, 2008, I relocated the Sabine's
Gull out over the central part of Lake Bemidji from the Cameron Park
boat landing north of the Bemidji State campus.  I was able to get
better looks than yesterday and another birder, Mary Lou Marchand, was
also able to see the bird.  She thought the gray on the back was
somewhat brownish as was the inner wing and that she observed a bit of
black on the tail tip, suggesting this was an immature bird.  We also
located a Little Gull visible from the same landing in with a flock of a
dozen or so Bonaparte's Gulls.  This appeared to be a full adult with
very blackish underwings except for a narrow band of white on the
underwing trailing edge.  There was no black visible on the upperwing
and the bird was as small or slightly smaller than the Bonaparte's Gulls
with it.  Also, there was still a partial hood of black on the Little
Gull.  The Little Gull was probably present yesterday but I was hesitant
to identify it then with all my focus on the Sabine's Gull.  The Little
Gull gets up and circles with the flock of Bonaparte's Gulls about every
15 minutes or so and the contrast between the birds is dramatic while in
flight.      The Little Gull was only a few hundred meters out from the
landing, unlike the Sabine's Gull which was far out over the middle of
the lake.  He Sabine's Gull also seems to fly periodically, less often
but for longer periods than the Bonaparte's Gulls, and is much more
active in picking insects or food off the surface of the water.  With
all the waves this afternoon, none of these birds are particularly
visible when resting on the water.   Not often do we get a five species
gull day on Lake Bemidji (alas no Franklin's Gull to make six species).
Also found on or near the lake were one Caspian Tern, one Forster's
Tern, a flock of  a dozen or so unidentified terns, two large flocks of
pelicans (50 plus birds), and the first Harris' Sparrow of the fall.    

 

Doug Johnson, Bemidji  

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