FINDING THE DREAM BIRD
At first it looked like a lesser black-backed gull but it had pink legs, bright pink legs. It was facing away and sleeping with its head tucked into its back hiding some important clues to identification. The gull gave the initial feeling of being a slaty-backed gull.
This is a dream bird we look for every winter.
Last week I was standing on the shores of Quidi Vidi Lake early in the morning listening to the beautiful spring song of a song sparrow coming from the willows.
It was one of those rare calm mornings when sounds carried well.
The song sparrow was feeling the spring and its song was giving me the feeling of spring.
A variety of ducks floated contently on the calm water showing no signs of wear having survived the long winter at Quidi Vidi Lake.
A flock of 100 gulls out on the ice were making the sounds of 500. The ice edge was now far from shore with the recent melt. Out of habit I scanned the gulls with my binoculars.
The rapid fire scan filtered out an image of one that might not be right.
I went back to it. At first it looked like a lesser blackbacked gull but it had pink legs, bright pink legs. It was facing away and sleeping with its head tucked into its back hiding some important clues to identification.
The gull gave the initial feeling of being a slaty-backed gull.
This is a dream bird we look for every winter.
It is from eastern Russia, also known as Siberia. They have happened before in Newfoundland and elsewhere in eastern North America.
It is surmised that a few find their way to the Atlantic Ocean by flying through the Northwest Passage in the Arctic during late summer when the Arctic ice is at the lowest concentration.
In November 2016 Lancy Cheng photographed a slatybacked gull at Quidi Vidi Lake but it was present for only 20 minutes and never seen again.
That was the first sighting in St. John’s since January 2012.
Ethel Dempsey came by. I alerted her to the possible mega rarity on the ice.
We needed it to wake up so we could get details on the head and bill. Ten minutes passed before it moved and started preening. The head still had the winter streaking.
The pale, slightly drooping bill, the dark smudge around the eye and a host of miniscule details consolidated to create an impression that screamed out slaty-backed gull.
It was one!
We started making the phone calls and texting the first-responder bird watching gang.
We also wanted to be ready to capture the bird with its wings spread with our cameras. We wanted to freeze an image of that famous string of pearls, a series of white spots in the outer wing.
We already knew it was a slaty-backed gull for sure but capturing the string of pearls is like getting your favourite movie star’s signature.
Unfortunately all the gulls flew because of an approaching eagle and we missed the opportunity because we were texting people.
I was able to follow the bird with binoculars as it flew away toward Quidi Vidi Village. I clearly saw the patented string of pearls. It was a richly satisfying moment and not something I was expecting on this gentle calm spring-like morning.
The slaty-backed gull was eagerly sought by St. John’s birders over the next couple days and it was being seen by a lucky few for short periods of time.
Late Sunday afternoon I was still hungry for another view and better pictures of the gull when Lancy Cheng called saying it was present at the west end of the lake — and close. I hurried to the scene.
The cameras shutters whirled among a small crowd of happy birders at the scene as the bird preened and strutted its stuff with confidence among the other gulls. There were oohs and awes every time it stretched its wings revealing the precious string of pearls.
We nailed it.
Other rare birds
We could talk all day about that gull but a lot other things happened since the last bird column. A deep reaching storm from the south carried a warm blast of southern air to the Avalon Peninsula and some birds quite unexpected for March appeared.
Spring overshoots carried off course during their migration.
Most noteworthy was a ruff at Renews found by Paul Linegar. This is rare shorebird actually of European origin but a few are known to overwinter in the Caribbean.
We suspected it was carried north from the Caribbean. This long legged sandpiper is living precariously being in Newfoundland when most fresh water is frozen. It stayed for at least four days in a grassy pool.
Another spring overshoot was a great blue heron photographed by Sharon Topping in St. Mary’s. Chris Brown was flabbergasted to see a great egret fly across the Salmonier Line near Father Duffy’s Well.
While looking at this southern vagrant standing in a tree, a man on skidoo towing a child on a sled passed by on the ice underneath.
The scene was an iconic clash of the seasons as winter and spring work out their differences. Spring will win in time.