Hello All,
The Breeding plumaged Laughing Gull reported by Trevor Ford on Bribie Is, SE
Queensland, a few days
ago was there again on Monday 6th Jan '03 when I also was there at about 9:00
am.
I first saw it at the infamous location south of the jetty at Bongaree,
Brisbane UBD Refidex Map 53
C20.
(The local burgers may be delectable but I made do with a bowl of a home-made
mix of mango and
pawpaw covered with natural yoghurt!)
The gull was with a small group of Silver Gulls and, in spite of the human
activity in the area,
stayed put long enough for me to take some digital photos, some of which
actually turned out
reasonable.
After about half an hour the Laughing Gull took off and disappeared in the
direction of Buckley's
Hole, Brisbane UBD Refidex Map 63 E4.
I then took a quick trip to the unfortunately named Kakadu Beach, Jill
Denning's artificial roost,
looking for possible Black-naped Terns.
No B-n Ts were to be seen.....and almost nothing else as well, the tide wasn't
right.
A local birder suggested that the suspect B-n Ts may have been Little Terns in
non-breeding plumage.
??
I then returned to Buckley's Hole at about 10:00 am and found the Laughing Gull
in a small flock of
Silver Gulls on the water-logged 'island' in the 'hole'.
It was still there when I left at about 10:30 am.
Note: Of my field guides Slater's has the illustration probably closest to the
Bribie bird.
This field guide shows the breeding bird without white spots on the folded wing
tips as is the case
with the Bribie bird.
I don't think it is unreasonable to believe that this bird is the same
individual that first
appeared, in non-breeding plumage, at the same spot a few months ago.
Cheers
Bob Inglis
Woody Point
Queensland
Australia
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