Birders,



If you are interested in seeing an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, one has
been seen for 4 days in a row now in Abbotsford, BC, near the Whatcom Road
exit (exit 95) on BC Highway 1. From November 4 through 7, it was seen in a
field just east of Whatcom Road and south of Highway 1, but no gulls were
there today. However, it was seen at 2 other nearby locations today (within
2-3 miles of the original location). It seems likely that it will remain in
the area for another 2-3 days, so good luck to anyone who looks for it!
Updates will probably be posted on the BC RARE BIRD ALERT website
(http://bcbirdalert.blogspot.ca ).



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net





From: Wayne Weber [mailto:contopus at telus.net]
Sent: November-08-14 9:09 PM
To: BCBIRDS; VANCOUVER AREA BIRDS
Subject: LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in Abbotsford: different location



Birders,



Today, November 8, I managed to find the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in
Abbotsford, in a large flock of close to 1000 foraging gulls east Of Cole
Road, west of Bowman Road, and north of Vye Road. The LBBG was there from at
least 11:15 to 11:30 AM, when it flew with many other gulls and could not be
relocated. I could not find it in this area from 10:00 to 11:15, probably
because it was still in the location described below by Brent Diakow.



To describe the location in greater detail: it was in a large corn stubble
field which extended all the way from Cole Road to Bowman Road, on the south
side of the Arnold Slough dike. There were many gulls in the field north of
this dike as well, but the LBBG was not seen there. About 75% of the gulls
were Mews and 25% were Glaucous-wings, with a scattering of Ring-billed and
Thayer's Gulls as well. The LBBG was spotted while I was scanning the flock
from Bowman Road, with the light from behind me (I recommend this if at all
possible!). While I was watching the LBBG, which was probably 400 metres
away, the juvenile FRANKLIN'S GULL walked through the field of view of my
scope, and for a short time the two rarest gulls in the flock were side by
side!



Despite the distance, the LBBG was seen very clearly in bright sunlight, at
60x magnification through my scope. The bird seemed noticeably smaller than
nearby Glaucous-wings; the mantle colour was very dark gray, at least 3
shades darker than the GWGUs. The legs and feet were bright yellow. The
wingtips were black, and there was considerable brown streaking on the head.
The eye colour was hard to discern, but appeared to be pale. A good field
mark was the red gonydeal spot on the bill, which was larger and much more
striking than on the Glaucous-wings.



If you are looking for this bird, and it's not at the spot I described, the
best bet seems to be just to search for any large flock of gulls in the
fields and start scanning. The LBBG has been in the same fairly small area
for 4 days now, and with luck it will stay there for a few more.



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net







From: vanbcbirds at yahoogroups.com [mailto:vanbcbirds at yahoogroups.com]
Sent: November-08-14 10:22 AM
To: vanbcbirds at yahoogroups.ca
Subject: [vanbcbirds] Lesser Black-backed Gull







Currently looking at the bird now, 10:10 Saturday morning. It is on the
north side of Zero Avenue about 200 m. west of where Whatcom Rd. becomes
Zero Ave having already turned south off Vye Rd. past the T junction
described in Stan's recent post.

Good Birding
Brent Diakow
Vancouver





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