I found my first juvenile Thayer's of the season yesterday - bittersweet looks at a bird that fled almost the second I spotted it.
There were also 2 adult Thayer's present (bringing my total to 11 distinct Thayer's in the last 2 weeks). Both of the adult types were without P10, a much more typical molt state for our earliest arrivals here on southern Lake Michigan.
Thayer's Gull (center). A relatively pale-eyed individual. |
Herring (left) with pale-eyed Thayer's (right). |
A darker-eyed bird with a duller bill pattern. |
I've stopped counting adult-type Lesser Black-backeds at this point. From here on out, the only adult LBBGs that I count at this site, for the rest of the season, are distinct and obviously "new" arrivals.
Out of the 4 birds present yesterday, a 3rd cycle type and a juvenile were "new" birds that I've not seen this season.
Compare the bird above with this one from last weekend in Lake County, Illinois:
Broader and plainer scapular edges, as well as plain tertial tips. |
Finally, here's a 7th cycle Herring Gull that was nice enough to allow a full band read:
Band #1106-13208. Banded on 20 June 2009; 7E of Chambers Island. Door County, Wisconsin. Bill and body size suggest this is a female. |
Meanwhile, I eagerly await our first Iceland & Glaucous Gulls of the season...
Me on New Buffalo Beach reading a Herring band. Photo by Mike Bourdon. |
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