** On Saturday, Louise Nichols made a pilgrimage to successfully see the
FRANKLIN'S GULL [Mouette de Franklin] in first winter plumage that was found a
few days ago by Stu Tingley and Louis-Émile Cormier. Louise saw it at the site
where it was first found, off Route 515 opposite civic number 2806 at
Sainte-Marie-de-Kent. It was in a field with many RING-BILLED GULLS [Goéland à
bec cerclé] and HERRING GULLS [Goéland argenté] but seemed to remain apart from
the bigger group. Louise says it was almost constantly in flight but she did
manage to get it on the ground for the attached photo. Dave and Bonnie Miller
saw the gull on Sunday at Saint-Marie-de-Kent, but on the south side of the
river at civic number 295, where a farmer was plowing a field. Franklin’s Gull
is very much an inland gull and plowed fields will be great places to watch for
it if it tarries for a while.
** Richard Blacquiere saw a duck that puzzled him in the third Hampton
lagoon on October 30. It had a wigeon bill but other plumage features did not
fit. On reviewing Sibley’s guide and getting confirmation from other experienced
birders, he has identified it as a non-breeding EURASIAN WIGEON [Canard
siffleur]. It’s a plumage that’s not frequently mentioned or illustrated in
descriptions of this species. Richard now wonders whether he may have been
overlooking wigeon in this plumage among groups of AMERICAN WIGEON [Canard
d’Amérique]. He first saw it associated with wigeon at the lagoon but now it
seems to socialize equally with NORTHERN SHOVELERS [Canard souchet]. Richard got
a nice photo on Sunday, one that we all should look at carefully and be ready
for.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
EURASIAN WIGEON.(MALE IN NON BREEDING PLUMAGE).NOV 8, 2015.RICHARD BLACQUIERE
FRANKLIN'S GULL.(FIRST WINTER PLUMAGE) LOUISE NICHOLS. NOV. 7, 2015
