Mew Gull (European) (Larus canus canus) (1)
- Reported Dec 11, 2020 10:25 by Shane Blodgett
- Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4, Kings, New York
- Map:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=40.646519,-74.026074&ll=40.646519,-74.026074- Checklist:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S77364660- Media: 8 Photos
- Comments: "*VERY RARE*
I was looking for Andrew's bird from Dec. 7th which I had unsuccessfully looked for on the 9th. There were about 60 RBGU on the pier with 55 Rock Doves with RBGU feeding and fighting over some Matzoh bread someone had left. Less than 10 of the gulls were first cycle and I quickly looked them over but saw none that looked good for Mew.
I was parallel parked along the south edge of the pier, with the sun to my right and birds 20-30 feet to my left. After about 10 minutes I noticed 3 gulls with my naked eye sitting on the pier wall/fence to my right. One of them struck me immediately as being a good candidate for a Mew because of its small-headed and small billed look. I quickly pulled my camera out and snapped a couple of shots through the windshield.
The light was terrible so I slowly angled the car closer and took a few more shots through the passenger window despite the light still being poor. Unfortunately before I could get past the bird to put the sun in a better position it flew. It immediately ducked down out of my sight, flew east along the pier and emerged at least 50 yards away. I jumped out of the car to try and get some flight shots but they were washed out by the backlighting. At the east end of the pier the bird turned North and flew low behind cars and out of my sight. I did not see it reappear so I thought it might have landed in the cove just north of the pier and I quickly drove over but could not refind it there.
I spent about 30 more minutes waiting to see if would return, but when a Cooper's Hawk flushed everything from the pier I decided to go look at some other nearby locations. Spent about 4 hours in all trying to refind the bird without success. My initial viewing was probably 2-3 minutes at most so my identification and notes are somewhat reliant on the photos I was able to get.
Again, the bird was small headed and small billed (reminded me of the brachy from 2015), with a large blackish eye. In life the bill appeared quite blue/gray, though photos show it more pinkish. The tip of the bill was black. more extensive on the lower mandible than the upper. Their was a very tiny bit of a pale tip to the bill, not as extensive as on typical 1CY RBGU. The back of the head was heavily spotted brown but a little streakier on the top of head and particularly on the cheek. The left cheek was missing some feathers or something was going on as it looked quite ratty there. The brown shawl around the back of the neck was distinctive, and you can see dark smudging on upper and lower breast as well.
The upper mantle was mostly gray (not as dark as one would see on L.c. brachyrhynchus or kamchatka) with just a couple of juv scaps mixed in. The lower scaps were mostly with dark centers and extensive white edges. This pattern was similar on the tertials. The median and lesser coverts were brownish with darker shaft streaks with more rounded tips lacking the triangular or pointed or what I call "quill pen" tips of a 1CY RBGU. The first generation greater coverts were mostly pale gray and stood out against the brown median and lesser coverts. The primaries were dark brown and longish and the bird looks long-winged in flight.
In life the tail had a wide black tip and white rump. I did not get a very good photo of the tail in flight as it appears washed out but I think you can make out some minimal dark marks on the rump. This tail pattern distinguishes this bird from L.c.brachyrhynchus. The legs were skinnier than a RBGU, pinkish below the knee and blue grey above the knee.
I think this bird was easier to identify than Andrew's bird as it appeared so small-headed and small billed comparatively. I compared photos and found several field marks that distinguished them as 2 different individuals, although the fact most his photos were in left profile and mine were right profile and from the rear (not to mention altogether different postures) made it a little challenging!
I believe this makes the 12th record of L. canus canus for NYS with Andrew's being the 11th."
