Here's a short post to mention a nice gull found at Woodlawn Beach State Park today...
A couple of days ago, I had a two hour block of time between a birthday lunch and my birthday dinner. I decided to walk the beach at Woodlawn to enjoy the peace of the lake and check out the gulls. I noticed an odd looking gull in my scope waaaay far down the beach. Its head appeared to be a bit darker than what we should be seeing on our currently non-breeding plumaged Bonaparte's Gulls, so I thought it was worth getting a closer look to check it out. As I walked along, I checked through my scope every now and then - and the gull looked better and better each time for a Laughing Gull or Franklin's Gull.
Eventually, when I got close enough to see some of its characteristics a little better, I was fairly certain it was a Franklin's Gull. The dark head, those beautiful wide white eye arcs, and the darker mantle of mixed shades of brown and gray all looked good for a juvenile Franklin's Gull. I took some photos to confirm and document this infrequent visitor to Western New York. I later learned that the bird's half hood is a good fieldmark for a Franklin's Gull, separating it from a Laughing Gull. That, as well as its white'ish hindneck and smaller bill are good fieldmarks to remember.
Happy birthday to me!
PS - just a little plug for the restaurant we went to for dinner, Mulberry Italian Ristorante on Jackson Avenue in Lackawanna: we really enjoyed our dinners and highly recommend this place! Apparently, they were featured on the Food Network too! It's a "Must Go"!