Lesser Black-backed Gull in St. Louis County
2010-09-25

'Rare Regular' in Minnesota

For more than a week, this third-cycle type Lesser Black-blacked Gull (Larus fuscus) has been seen off Gull Bluff and/or parking lot #1 at the base of Wisconsin Point, where this image was taken on the 25th. Later that same day, it joined thousands of Ring-billed (L. delawarensis) and Herring (L. argentatus) at the breakwall and jetty on the Minnesota side of the Superior Entry. The distance between the Superior Entry and parking lot #1 is 4 km, plus an additional 1.25 km to Gull Bluff. Gulls with distinctive plumage or bare part markings have been known to commute regularly between the Superior Landfill and WLSSD at 27th Ave West, Duluth, a distance of 14.25 km. At rest and especially at a distance, this individual would be very difficult to distinguish from an adult. I saw an apparent adult Lesser Black-blacked off parking lot #1 at Wisconsin Point 9/14/2010 -- the day after Janet Green's discovery of one at Agate Bay, Two Harbors (see Kim Eckert's image below). The distance between Agate Bay and the base of Wisconsin Point is 43.3 km. The most impressive commute by a gull in Minnesota surely has to be the first-winter Iceland Gull that foraged in a field near Lake George in Anoka County, and roosted at Lake Calhoun in Hennepin County for several consecutive days in December 1993 -- a round trip distance of approximately 87 km! For details on this remarkable commuter, please see Karl Bardon's note of interest in The Loon 66:102-103.

Distinguished from an adult by the reduced amount of white in the wingtip (e.g., no mirror on outermost primaries) and brownish cast to some of the upper wing-coverts. Except for a wisp of gray on the outermost pair of rectrices, this individual lacked a tail band and showed an adult-like bill pattern, suggesting that it's entering its fourth plumage cycle. Digital image by Peder H. Svingen