01 May 2021

Monthly Notables April 2021

 Sightings:

  • Great Black-backed Gull (1st cycle). Saskatoon County, Saskatchewan. 01 April 2021.
  • Kamchatka Gull (adult). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 01 April 2021.
  • California Gull (adult). Dare County, North Carolina. 06 April 2021.
  • Glaucous-winged Gull (2nd cycle). Davis County, Utah. 06 April 2021.
  • Black-headed Gull (adult). Ventura County, California. 07 April 2021.
  • Vega Gull (adult). Santa Clara County, California. 08 April 2021.
  • Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Calgary County, Alberta. 10 April 2021.
    • Less than 20 accepted records for the province*.
  • Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Seneca County, New York. 13 April 2021.
  • Great Black-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Williams County, North Dakota. 13 April 2021.
  • Little Gull (adult). Utah County, Utah. 14 April 2021.
  • Franklin's Gull (adult). Tompkins County, New York. 19 April 2021.
  • Black-headed Gull (adult). Pierce County, Washington. 21 April 2021.
  • California Gull (adult type). Brant County, Ontario. 22 April 2021.
  • Thayer's Gull (1st cycle). Ventura County, California. 24 April 2021.
  • Western Gull (adult). Clark County, Nevada. 27 April 2021.
  • Laughing Gull (1st cycle). Jefferson County, Kansas. 28 April 2021.

Notes:
  1. The adult Black-legged Kittiwake in Calgary is noteworthy for several reasons: 1) There are less than 20 accepted records for the province, 2) It is the longest staying kittiwake for Alberta (with most birds gone within a couple of hours, 3) It has been lingering at a pond at a landfill and has been seen picking through and eating waste (James Fox pers comm.). I don't know of any previous reports of kittiwakes feeding, or attempting to feed, at landfills. 
  2. Nick Ramsey reported a putative Kelp x Herring hybrid from the Chandeleur Islands in St. Bernard Perish, Louisiana on 20 April 2021. Adult type. Upperparts intermediate, with a prominent bulbous-tipped bill, square p10 mirror and slight dusky wash on the primary coverts. In addition to this individual, another 3 suspected 1st/2nd cycle type hybrids may have been present, tending toward Herring.