Sabine's Gull, Red-necked Phalarope - Whitefish Point - 16 September 2007

[Cory Gregory]

16 September 2007

Birders,

A juvenile SABINE'S GULL flew in at Whitefish Point early this
afternoon.  It was first seen flying towards the point and after
floating offshore with other gulls for a couple minutes, it turned and
flew to the north.  About an hour later, it was seen very distantly
flying south past the harbor.

A RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was found 15 minutes after the Sabine's Gull.
It flew by the waterbird shack at close range before landing out at
the point.  However, the bird must have flushed soon after because it
was not refound.

A juvenile intermediate-morph PARASITIC JAEGER was seen about 15
seconds after the phalarope flew by the shack.  The jaeger chased a
Herring Gull overhead for several seconds before flying back over the
bay.

For pictures of the Sabine's Gull and Parasitic Jaeger and for daily
waterbird updates from Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, I encourage
you to visit the Fall Waterbird Blog and the Staff Blog.  You can find
the links at www.wpbo.org underneath the Northern Saw-whet Owl
picture.

Good Birding,

Cory Gregory
arcticory at gmail.com
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