Unusual gulls surprise area birders

  • By Bruce Glick
  • March 4, 2015
  • 392
                        
Unusual gulls surprise area birders As most area birders know, if you want to see rare and unusual gulls in Ohio, you need to travel to Lake Erie during the winter. Although more of these rare gulls have been showing up on inland lakes and reservoirs in recent years, the recent show in Canton and Dover is unprecedented as far as I know. Kent Miller, a Kidron native who now lives in Hartville, posted a detailed account of the Canton birds on Facebook. At 5:00 on the evening of February 26, Kent Miller and Ben Morrison joined up with Barb and Ron Sponseller to search for the gulls that had been encountered recently. They soon found a large flock of gulls along Interstate 77 in Canton. Most of them were large gulls. There were a number of Great Black-backed Gulls, along with Herring Gulls and a few Lesser Black-backed, Glaucous, and Iceland Gulls. However, later another huge flock was located nearby. In this flock the birders were able to count over 100 Great Black-backed Gulls. For the evening, in addition to the black-backed gulls there were at least 7 Glaucous Gulls, 5 Iceland Gulls and a Thayer’s Gull. However, it wasn’t long until a similar situation with gulls was discovered at several other area locations. Robert Hershberger reported on the Bobolink Rare Bird Alert (330-763-5119) on March 3 that the above mentioned gulls have also been seen in the Dover-New Philadelphia area, as well at the large landfill west of Dover. The Tuscarawas River in that area is hosting lots of gulls plus a nice variety of ducks, especially lots of diving ducks. Tundra Swans also were located in the same area. A Long-tailed Duck has also been seen for several days in the Dover vicinity. A very early Osprey was observed on February 27 north of Berlin. That is the earliest that I can remember for this now regular nesting raptor to return to the area. Other raptors will be coming through this month, especially Red-shouldered Hawks. Last week we spent several days at Pancho Villa State Park, located at Columbus, New Mexico, on the border with Mexico. We were able to spend a day walking around the town on the Mexican side of the border. It was a lot of fun, reminding us of the years that we lived in Latin America. We also stopped at the Chiracahua Desert Museum near Rodeo, New Mexico. A large flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds drew our attention. The birds were feeding at the museum feeders. Now we are in Glenwood, New Mexico, visiting my brother Al and his wife Marcia. Later today, March 3, we’ll head east, planning to arrive at our home in Goshen, Indiana by the weekend. It’s time to get home for the waterfowl migration season, but even more to see our family again. Here in Glenwood, New Mexico, we’ve seen some interesting birds such as the Sage Thrasher that comes to drink at the water feature every morning. Several Cassin’s Finches are still joining the House Finches at the feeders. Spotted and Canyon Towhees are regulars, as are Western Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows. A lone American Robin showed up this morning for a drink. Yesterday Helen and I walked around at the trout hatchery in town and found the Lewis’s Woodpecker that I had seen twice in early January when we were here. Good birding! Bruce Glick birderbruce@yahoo.com 330-317-7798


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