Eeek ! Can I buy you some fish and chips to help pull it in ? Seems to
be the attractive fodder for gulls.
T.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Andrew Stafford
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:34 AM
To: 'Peter Ewin'; 'robert morris';
Subject: Sabine's Gull, Scarborough (Redcliffe, QLD)
Hi,
As indicated in the header, Scarborough is at the northern end of the
Redcliffe Peninsula.
As Robert has pointed out, unless the bird is located again it could be
anywhere. It's much more pelagic than most gulls and it doesn't surprise
me that this observation was a "fly-past".
Andrew
From: Peter Ewin
Sent: Monday, 17 March 2008 9:01 PM
To: robert morris; Andrew Stafford;
Subject: Sabine's Gull, Scarborough (Redcliffe, QLD)
A quick question from a non-Qld birder. Where is the Scarborough you are
talking about exactly? I thought it was on the Gold Coast (where thre is
a shopping centre Scarborough Fair), but it has been said at Scarborough
Harbour near Redcliffe (the other side of Brisbane). Since you left
Redcliffe in the title above I am assuming the latter - just wanted
clear things up in my own head. Cheers, Peter
> From:
> To: ;
> Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:57:27 +0000
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Sabine's Gull, Scarborough (Redcliffe, QLD)
>
>
> Hi
>
> Sorry for the silence from my end, while people have been trying to
> get
info on this sighting. I've had a difficult day getting too and from
work as my car was written-off 10 mins after I got off the Southport
Pelagic on Saturday afternoon when a big 4WD and boat ploughed into the
back of me (as Paul Walbridge and others can confirm!!)
>
> This is (was) a genuine observation. It's one of those species we
> (Poms)
see regularly particulalry in the SW of the UK in August-Sept. I have
seen a lot going back to the 70s! I would have made more of an effort to
report it earlier had it not been for the fact that it didn't stop (I
was hoping it would drop in with the roosting Silver Gulls and Terns)
but it just carried on going beyond Drury Point and out into Morton Bay
towards the port. They rarely stop in the UK with other gulls when they
are passing along the coast. Also I didn't have my mobile phone with me
so I couldn't contact local birders immediately.
>
> My honest obsevations were: it was approximately 50m off-shore on a
> rising
tide. I was probably c. 30-40m from the shore. The winds onshore were
reasonable strong (30-35kph). I noticed a small gull which had an almost
tern like 'light' flight coming towards me from N to S with a black
(looking) head. I nearly fell off the seat and raised my bins. Those of
you who have seen Sabine's know the head is a very dark ashy grey but in
bright light the hood looks more or less black, and in such conditions
you can't see the black border where the hood meets the white neck
feathers unless it is fluttering around you or sitting on the beach! The
wing pattern was immediately striking with a black wedge of outer
primaries, a white triangle of inner primaries and secondaries and a
grey mantle and coverts. The tail was white. They are simply
unmistakeable.
>
> The bird flew reasonable direct and low across the water but did
> briefly
lift and interact with a couple of Silver gulls which were clearly
larger than it. It then carried going in a pretty direct way and fairly
low I assume due to the wind.
>
> I didn't see the yellow tip to the bill (again those of you who have
> seen
Sabine's will know that this is not easy to see in bright light against
a bright sea when a bird is flying) and I didn't notice white tips to
the primaries (the same comment applies). The eye / eye-ring weren't
discernable. I was using 10x40 Leicas.
> I reported it so others could go and look for it in case it hangs
> around.
They occasionally do and I have seen quite a few on London Reservoirs
following SW gales in the UK. That said they are a very pelagic gull and
it may well just bugger off out to sea. I will report the sighting in a
genuine way (who to?) but I am completely unconcerned whether it is
accepted or not. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in Aus listing
(I only keep a world
list) and my lifers at Sundown (Turquoise Parrots, Diamond Firetails and
Fuscous Honeyeater) the previous weekend and the views of Tahiti Petrel
and White-necked Petrel on Saturday were far more interesting to me
personally!
>
> cheers
> Rob Morris Brisbane, Australia > From: > To:
> Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:14:39 +1000>
Subject: Sabine's Gull, Scarborough (Redcliffe, QLD)> > Hi
all,> > Made it out to the Redcliffe area this afternoon - work
commitments> prevented me going earlier - to look for the Sabine's Gull.
No Tony, it is> not a furphy, the observer concerned has seen hundreds
of them and it's in> full breeding nick. If you've seen a Sabine's
before you'll know they're> unmistakeable even in non-breeding plumage.>
> Unfortunately, I was unable to verify it myself, despite checking
every> group of gulls I could find between Scarborough Boat Harbour and
Clontarf.> Basically it could be anywhere in Moreton Bay or beyond and
I'll have> another look tomorrow morning including at Southbank in South
Brisbane,> where a Franklin's Gull turned up in the late 1990s.
Obviously the more eyes> out, the better.> > It's worth pointing out
that the rocky spit to the right of the boat harbour> at Scarborough had
probably a couple of hundred Silver Gulls roosting this> afternoon along
with Crested, Caspian, Common and Little Terns. It was the> first place
I looked and certainly it wasn't a bad place to start. Bob> Inglis I
hope has his eagle eyes out in the area so hopefully it'll show up.> >
Andrew
Stafford> > ===============================> www.birding-aus.org>
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