The World’s Smallest Seagull.
Little Gull
I saw something this morning- a new life list bird for me. It was easy to pick a topic for this post 🙂
After a very foggy Saturday morning drive, I showed up at Alum Creek State Park- the beach there, to be more specific. I had seen online that birders had spotted a rare bird there.
Last August, I had gone to the same place looking for a different bird. Even if August is still summer, some birds have already gotten a head start on the autumn migration season- particularly shorebirds.
The fog hung around for a while, shrouding everything in a misty glow. The sun was trying to break through.
Seagulls really like the sandy beach here. Ring-Billed Gulls are the most common species, often with a few Herring Gulls here and there. Since sandy beaches are scarce in central Ohio, the beach here is a great place to see unusual birds.
The above Ring-Bill walked with a pronounced limp- I wonder how it’s leg got hurt. It moved around well enough, though. I’ve seen shorebirds with broken legs that still hop around and get enough to eat.
Killdeer- those abundant inland shorebirds- like the beach as well.
Cormorants flew by, not far above the water.
A little ways off from the big flock of gulls was a lone bird, always standing at the edge of the water. It had a harsh call, unlike the others.
This was a Little Gull, a very descriptive name for the smallest gull in the world. It can get up to a foot long, which is pretty small for such birds.
This particular bird is an immature bird- it eventually will get an all-black head. When these birds are young, they wander- and since they typically live in Europe, they can wander very far! One bird that was banded as a nestling in Europe turned up in Pennsylvania the very first summer of its life.
Like some other gulls, this bird will take 3 years to become an adult- changing its appearance each year. Yes, seagulls can be difficult to identify…
There are rare colonies of this bird in North America- so it can be seen migrating along the east coast or around the Great Lakes. Seeing one in central Ohio is a treat- Lake Erie is a ways off.
This bird eats by standing along the water’s edge and grabbing floating food, such as insects or crustaceans. That’s why it looks like it’s looking out to sea. A very neat bird- one that may not be seen again for quite a while in this area. I’m glad I got to snap its picture- you never know what’s going to turn up!
Way cool, what a great find! It looks very much like an immature Bonaparte’s gull, but then, all gulls look alike to me. 😉
Hah, you and me both! ‘What gull is this? It sort of looks like a 2nd-year this, or is it a first-year that?’
Tracy, congratulations on seeing one of your dream birds! Always enjoy your post—but the pictures on this one were a bit of a shock for me. Northern beaches look a whole lot different from the ones down south. Is that brown stuff supposed to be sand? Guess ya’ll save the white for the snow.
I’m pretty sure that the sand was hauled in since the reservoir itself is artificial, John- back in the 60s and 70s lots of reservoirs were built in Ohio to meet the growing population’s demand for water (the population isn’t necessarily growing now- but back then it was, big time). A good amount of the bodies of water up here aren’t quite ‘natural’ in the sense that rivers and creeks had dams placed upon them to build up a body of water in front of them…also, in the summer when the beaches are heavily used, they bring in earth-moving equipment to frequently rake out the sand- and perhaps add new sand on top.
I’m sure there are a good amount of natural bodies of water up north, but Ohio isn’t the best place to look for them, outside of Lake Erie anyway!
I know what you mean about white sand- i saw it in the Carolinas many years ago on vacation 🙂
Thanks, Tracy. Northern beaches have always puzzled me.
Exciting! Lovely photos – especially the last one. Well done!
Many thanks, Jo! The Little Gull was rather cooperative in posing!
Very cool! Not a bird we see every day.
Glad he’s hanging around, Robert!
Hi. Great addition to the Life List.
Very true, Jane!
Wonderful
It was indeed, Ellen!
What a cute bird! Apparently they come here (to the Eastern Shore of Maryland) during the winter months. I’ll have to keep an eye out for them.
They stand out because they’re so small for a gull, Robin!
They look much like our black headed gulls. Are they the same bird?
Interesting question, Tootlepedal-
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-headed_gull/id
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Little_Gull/id
Little Gulls have short bills, Black-Headed Gulls have longer bills- but apart from that, they look very similar indeed!
What a wonderful sighting!
It was thrilling, Pat- especially to a land-locked birder like me!
Quite a find! It’s a beautiful bird!
It was indeed, Montucky- it really stood out not only size-wise but behavior-wise, too!
Okay, you are good. You are even making seagulls look interesting and attractive. In honor, I have a joke for you… “Why don’t seagulls fly over the bay?”
…
“Because then they’d be bay gulls (bagels)”
*groans* You’ll be here all week! 🙂
The Little Gull is a pretty little bird.
It certainly is, Patti- I’m always surprised to see so many gulls nowhere near the ocean!