ML44354391

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

2nd New Jersey state record and first Somerset County record. Adult feeding with Ring-billed Gulls towards the west end of SW field; adult, slightly smaller than nearby Ring-billed Gull, slightly but noticeably darker backed (upper wings and mantle) than surrounding Ring-billed Gull (heavily overcast conditions with even light), small, rounded head with relatively heavily marked nape/neck and crown/head, prominent and apparently all dark eye, small, yellowish bill (more yellow towards the tip) with maybe just a hint of a smudge “ring” (the latter not seen in the field but appears to be the case in photos); perhaps brachyrhynchus but without open wing detail probably not definitive; low quality but useable photos below (poor light plus constant mist and drizzle). Having just finished working the SW field, slowly working west and scanning the gulls and geese from inside my car due to rain, I was just about to peel off and head out when I took a final glance over at the last (furthest west), small feeding flock of what I had assumed was entirely Ring-billed Gull. I had not scanned through this small flock with bins yet which was broken off from and to the west of the larger (albeit scattered) feeding flock I had just finished scanning through, since, from afar, it had appeared to be a purely Ring-billed Gull flock. As I did a quick naked eye scan over the group (I was literally starting to pull off the side of the road now) this bird jumped out immediately due to the darker upperparts. I watched and photographed the bird from the car for just under 5min (4:26pm - 4:30pm via camera time stamps) and with everything looking fine for Mew Gull, I put my camera and bins down and went for my phone when this group, including the Mew Gull, picked up along with the rest of the gulls at the west end and headed ENE (directly behind me). Despite jumping out of the car in a desperate attempt to relocate the bird in flight I couldn’t find it in the chaos with everything heading dead away and was unable to get anything on the open wings. The rest of the gulls and geese to the east started getting up and leaving to the NE as well over the next few minutes as light faded. I don’t know where the area's gulls roost and local numbers are sporadic and hard to keep track of as local feeding is often weather driven with gulls feeding on flooded out earthworms during wet conditions. Flocks typically head in an easterly/NE direction in the evenings and flocks are seen occasionally coming from the east in the morning at Duke Farms and Finderne Wetlands (both east of here) and may imply that they are roosting down river somewhere but it’s generally messy and not clear cut. There are no known gull roosts in Somerset County. Another option (perhaps the likeliest?) would be the Hunterdon reservoirs which do hold large numbers of roosting Ring-billed Gull, so perhaps birds head E/NE in the evening along the river before heading back west (?). Yesterday's (1390) and today's (900) Ring-billed Gull numbers are well above average for the area. There is no rain in tomorrow’s forecast but hopefully this bird will be refound as it was not chaseable today.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

4000

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

1844 pixels x 1268 pixels

Original file size

293.67 KB