It was the morning of November 2nd 2020. The winds were looking pretty sweet for waterbirds at "The Bluff", with 50km/h Northwest winds. It was a cooler day, not getting much higher than 3 degrees. Being in online university meant I had almost daily live meetings, and Nov 2 was no exception. Thankfully I only had one lecture that morning which allowed me to get out later that afternoon.
At the beginning of the year I made a list; "2020 Must-See Birds". It was a list of 72 overdue lifers. On that list was Black-legged Kittiwake. With a few records along the Lake Huron shoreline from earlier that fall, I was almost certain today would be the day.
I parked at the gate and made it down the road. The wind was brisk and the cold north component had me shivering before I even had my scope set up. It was immediately clear \"things were happening\".
I hunkered down behind a dirt hill in an attempt to hide from the wind. The "dead end" sign that is usually at the end of the road was seemingly missing. I discovered the strength of the wind had snapped the wooden post of the sign right in half!
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| The "dead end" sign at The Bluff |
After that I immediately had two Great Black-backed Gulls fly over together:
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| Immature Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Adult Great Black-backed Gull |
The gulls continued to stream over in almost overwhelming numbers. The vast majority were Ring-billed Gulls with a few Herring Gulls mixed in. As someone who still has a long way to go in the realm of gull identification, seeing hundreds of close flybys of many different plumages is one of the best ways to learn.
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| Herring Gull |
The Great Black-backed Gulls (GBBG) showed no signs of stopping as they continued to stream by. I was surprised that the first immature GBBG was the only sub adult I\"d had that day. Of eight GBBGs, seven were adults.
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
Many of these birds appeared to be in active primary molt.
Aside from the gulls, a couple of raptors spiced things up a bit. An adult Bald Eagle made a couple of passes as well as a Merlin. Both of which are likely local birds, but still nice to see.
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Merlin |
A Long-tailed Duck whipped past at one point as well, too fast for pictures. Later a small group of ducks flew by. One definite male Mallard, and a few American Black Ducks or Mallard x Black Duck hybrids.
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| Mallard and some Black Ducks/Hybrids |
After freezing for a little while longer, I had a new bird for the day! A young Lesser Black-backed Gull made a close pass just overhead.
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| Immature Lesser Black-backed Gull |
Then all at once, I had a flock of 50+ gulls coming in. Trying to look at every single bird before it passed was a challenge. I knew I had missed a few so I looked at the ones that had passed behind me and saw a bird that looked odd. Now I don't know if you've ever tried it, but IDing gulls from behind is not an easy task. I knew the bird had a fine black tip to a slightly notched tail. Never having seen this on a gull before, I took photos until the bird was a speck on the horizon.
When I looked at my photos I knew deep down that the bird I was looking at was the newest bird on my life list, a Black-legged Kittiwake! Before jumping up and down like a crazy person, I decided to get some other opinions. After my ID was confirmed, I THEN jumped up and down like a crazy person.
Some flyover Lapland Longspurs marked the end of the seawatch as the stream of gulls slowly died off. On my way back to my car, I noticed some Snow Buntings foraging right next to the road. I couldn\"t resist taking a photo because Snow Buntings are majestic creatures.
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| Lapland Longspur in flight |
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| Snow Bunting |
I am already looking forward to my next Bluff visit, and hopefully a lifer or two to come with it...
