Total ABA Species Recorded During 2010 - 731



Thursday, December 9, 2010

My Last Full Day in Newfoundland


What is it they say?  Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.  It was indeed a red sky this morning as I headed out for my last full day here in Newfoundland (photo).  At breakfast I tried oatmeal rather than my usual bacon and eggs; I liked it.  With coffee, of course.  First stop was the sewage outfall, the location where the Black-tailed Gull had been first seen in St. John's.  After about an hour, Jared Clarke arrived.  We chatted and checked out the gulls for a bit, then he left.  Not too much later I left too to go to Pleasantville, the other major place where the gulls have been hanging out.  Today they were on a grassy terrace and not on the metal roof of the large building as they have been the past two mornings.  I scanned carefully, but no black-tail.  Jared drove up, scanned, and moved on.  I went back to the sewage outlet with mostly the same results except that the Common Gull showed up.  Then back to the grassy area where it was clear more gulls were present.  But still no black-tail.  Up to this point I had seen eleven species of gull in St. John's; black-tail would make twelve.  You can't come to Canada without visiting a Tim Hortons.  Now was my time to do it.  I got some pastries to go with a large coffee and then found out they didn't take Visa or American cash.  Fortunately I had just enough Loonies to make the purchase.  Back to the car and gull watching.  I finished the snack, took a few more great gull close-ups, and was debating lunch when the phone rang.  It was Jared.  He had the gull, right at the spot where I had been half an hour earlier.  Fortunately I knew the way since I had driven it so often.  It still took longer than I could bear.  But the gull stayed and I got to see it well.  It was sitting near Great Black-backed Gulls out in the open so I'm quite sure it wasn't there on my last visit.  I thanked Jared.  He had also called Bruce Mactavish who drove up at that point.  We both took quite a few pictures (photo).  It's a small gull, being only slightly larger than a Ring-billed Gull.  The bird's bill is long and narrow and has a unique red and black tip.  The mantle color is similar to that of a Lesser Black-backed Gull.  You can see the black tail band in the photo.  So thanks to the enormous help of Bruce Mactavish, Dave Shepherd, Dave Brown, and Jared Clarke I have bagged the three target birds for which I came to Newfoundland.  I'll get a great night's sleep tonight.  I have to; I need to catch a 6:00am flight home tomorrow.  On Saturday I fly to Calfiornia for another try at the Brown Shrike.      Posted by Picasa

8 comments:

  1. Way to go Bob! We went last weekend and saw the Tufted Flycatcher. Cute little fella. Hope you get the shrike.

    Sue

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  2. Good luck on the shrike! Congrats on the gull. Get some sleep. Look forward to seeing you next year (three and a half weeks)! Renee

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  3. What a dramatic finish!!! I think we are all as thrilled as you are!

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  4. Magnific!!! Good luck with the shrike..you'll nail it this time!

    Mike Boatwright

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  5. Bob,
    After you try for the shrike in California I have at least 3 spots in Montana where you can get Gray Partridge. If you contact me I can set you up with people there.
    Patrick Toomey ptoomeyjr@gmail.com

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  6. I'm glad you got your 3 target species in Newfoundland. Us Newfoundland birders were all rooting for you.
    - Tony Lang

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  7. Hey Bob - You missed zero birds on the Gulf Stream pelagic yesterday - Razorbills were the highlight! - Best of luck with the Brown Shrike!

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