Today was pretty remarkable at Avalon, and not just because it was 11/11/11. Even though the flight was quite meager in terms of quantity, it was memorable in terms of quality. The day's unquestionable highlight was a California Gull that flew by with a small flock of Ring-billed Gulls, shortly after 11am. More detailed notes about the observation are included below; unfortunately I was unable to obtain a photo.
The day's other red-letter bird was an adult Little Gull that passed by with 38 Bonaparte's Gulls during the evening. This individual the first (and maybe only) of the season. Also making their first appearances of the season today were Tundra Swan and Canvasback.
Otherwise, there were only occasional small groups of scoters and Red-throated Loons throughout the day. Gulls, particularly Ring-billed, put in a good showing today. Royal Terns were obviously moving during the afternoon, and an evening push of Northern Gannets was also enjoyable.
Brant - 40
Canada Goose - 3
Tundra Swan - 15
Wood Duck - 49
American Wigeon - 3
American Black Duck - 27
Mallard - 3
Green-winged Teal - 15
Canvasback - 1
Greater Scaup - 9
Surf Scoter - 608
White-winged Scoter - 2
Black Scoter - 365
dark-winged scoter - 156
Long-tailed Duck - 19
Bufflehead - 36
Hooded Merganser - 1
Red-breasted Merganser - 11
Red-throated Loon - 198
Common Loon - 16
Horned Grebe - 1
Northern Gannet - 929
Double-crested Cormorant - 699
Great Cormorant - 3
Great Egret - 30
Laughing Gull - 51
Bonaparte's Gull - 53
Little Gull - 1
Ring-billed Gull - 601
California Gull - 1 (~11am, flying south just beyond west edge of seawall with 7 Ring-billed Gulls. Slightly larger than accompanying gulls; slim build and long-winged. Most likely a 2nd-cycle individual. Adult-like grayish tone to the mantle and scapulars. Pale, perhaps pinkish-yellow bill with black tip; some streaking around head. Textured appearance to coverts. Outer primaries dark, contrasting with pale region within inner primaries. Extensive black on outer tail region, with some speckling transitioning to a white base of tail)
Herring Gull - 73
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2
Great Black-backed Gull - 6
Forster's Tern - 106
Royal Tern - 57
(Total = 4,206)
No comments:
Post a Comment