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Posted by Bill Pranty on 15:23:05 01/03/11
Good afternoon,
I normally do not post to this list sightings from Pasco County, Florida (see my "Counterpoint" post below), but since the BRDBRAIN list has been down since New Year's Day, I will make an exception here, since some southern Florida birders will be interested in it:
[Sent to BRDBRAIN but not yet posted by the listserver):
Good afternoon all,
While participating on the West Pasco Christmas Bird Count on 28 Dec 2010, Steve Mann photographed an adult-looking black-backed gull in western Pasco County, Florida. The size of the bird was said to be similar to Herring Gull. This morning, Dave Gagne and I refound the gull, and obtained some fairly good images with a digital point-and-shoot camera. However, we quickly "highjacked" Tony Cambria, a local wildlife photographer who happened to arrive in the park shortly after the gull appeared. Tony obtained a fine set of photographs of the black-backed gull, including some showing it in an interaction with a Herring Gull.
Photos are posted to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cambriaphotos/sets/72157625738449636
I sent a similar post to the ID Frontiers listserver, which is composed of several of the world's leading birders/ornithologists in gull identification. Although identification should always be made by careful review of the evidence obtained and personal knowledge/experience with all potential species involved, rather than simply by majority opinion, a consensus is building that the Pasco County black-backed gull is a third-cycle Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus), a species native to both coasts of South America from Ecuador and Brazil southward. Strangely, a few Kelp Gulls vagrated to the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana in the mid-1990s and began hybridizing with Herring Gulls. The Chandeleur Islands were heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and few or no Kelp Gulls have been reported in North America subsequently. Another Kelp Gull spent five or more years in St. Marys County, Maryland, beginning in 1998.
There is no previous record of Kelp Gull in Florida.
Although the consensus is that the Pasco County black-backed gull is a Kelp Gull, there is a _process_ involved in adding a bird to the Official Florida Bird List (found at http://www.fosbirds.org/RecordsCommittee/OfficialStateList.aspx). This process involves compilation of field marks and associated photographs/video recordings by the discoverer(s) of the bird, followed by careful review and deliberation of the evidence provided by members of the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC). I will not usurp the committee's responsibility by "identifying" the gull as a Kelp Gull, a bird that I have never seen -- at least, perhaps, before this morning. So I'd like to see us all be conservative in not identifying the Pasco County black-backed gull until the FOSRC passes judgment on the record, which will be later this year -- especially for those of us who have no personal experience with the species.
The apparent/probable Kelp Gull can be viewed from Anclote Gulf Park is southwestern Pasco County, a bit north of the Pinellas County line. (Do not confuse Anclote Gulf Park, which lies along the north side of the Florida Power plant, with Anclote River Park, which lies along the south side of the plant). There is a $2 entrance fee to the park. From the parking lot, walk southwest to the fishing p which offers a view of adjacent mudflats during low tide ONLY. Otherwise, you'll just see water with few or no birds.
Google Earth coordinates to the park are
28.192063° and -82.786023° (make sure you plug in the negative sign for longitude; otherwise, you'll end up somewhere near China). The address is 2305 Baillie's Bluff Road, Holiday FL 34691.
Note that low tide over the next few days occurs from around dawn to 2-3 hours later. During the rest of the new few days, there will be no mudflats at the park. Tide tables for various sites in the area -- as well as for the rest of the country -- can easily be obtained from your favorite search engine.
Best regards,
Bill Pranty
Bayonet Point, Florida
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