Mott Lake Lesser Black-backed Gull 12/15

[Luke Redmond]

Sorry for the late post, I haven't had computer access for a couple of days. 
  On Wednesday, from 11:30 to 12:10, I saw a single Lesser Black-backed Gull 
near the west end of Mott Lake.  It spent time sitting on the ice and also 
foraging in open water along the north shoreline with about one hundred 
ring-bills.  This was about 400 m west of the paddlewheeler along that 
shoreline.  I viewed the bird from a maintenance shed driveway along 
Carpenter Rd. (I'm pretty sure this is the correct road, the one that runs 
along the lake at its western end).  The bird had a very dark grey mantle, 
smudgy head and neck and pretty noticeable yellow legs, and was larger than 
the Ring-billed Gulls it was associating with.  The bird was still present 
when I left, but the cold wind and another commitment kept me from staying 
longer.  Good birding.
Luke Redmond