A Little Bit of Luck

      So, we're on a bit of a streak. A good amount of times when Kestrel comes along birding with me, we have some fantastic sights. We have experienced life birds like Connecticut Warbler, Red Crossbill, rare birds like Western Tanager, Grasshopper Sparrow, and usually this only happens when she put up a fuss. I'm thinking I interpret it as a fuss, but I think she is really saying "GIRL, ARE YOU CRAZY? STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO THAT WAY!" And then we see a common redpoll, high up in the treetops. When she naps or observes quietly, we see the regulars and nothing more. I think she channels her raptor namesake and knows where to seek out the good birds.

    We had just a day like that yesterday. We walked around Ecology Village at Floyd Bennett Field, she enjoyed a solid, quiet nap, I enjoyed.... some exercise. Walking is one thing, but walking with my birding gear and pushing (sometimes pulling) a stroller is a little something extra. It seemed like it was going to be a quiet, meh, but still thankful to get outside sort of day...

And then, we were delighted by a small group of (the cutest) field sparrows. Alright, that's a nice something! Ecology village barely gave us a northern flicker, so this was exciting. 
As I decided to extend my walk beyond ecology village toward Archery Road, Kestrel began to cry. The wind, even with a wind shield, she let her voice be heard. I changed my route and kept it short. Does she know something?
It was getting close for her next bottle, so I decided let's scope out a few places where we can bird from the car. The field next to the garden? Nothing. The runways for larks? Nope. The runway fields for harriers? Nada.
One last ditch effort, a look over the water from the boat launch lot.

Like a bright beacon, one gull stood out from all the rest, no black markings on its wingtips. A white-winged gull.
It seemed large, the ring-billed gulls smaller than it. If only to get a look at its head and bill...
Another gull displaced it, it took flight and landed on the launch...

With a turn of that block-shaped head and large black-tipped bill, confirmed for us, a glaucous gull. A good seagull to run in to in Brooklyn, and SO close and SO cooperative. Often when they find them at Bush Terminal or the Army Terminal they are so far off. You just don't really get to appreciate them and the detail of the cinnamon sprinkling throughout their juvenile plumage. This one seems like it's a first winter bird, from the looks of its plumage.

When older, they kind of look like a herring gull with no black anywhere. Just grey and white.
This is a bird of the Artic and not super common to find here, so seeing one is worth your time to savor. They are to the great black-backed gull, the second largest gull in the world.
While my eyes enjoyed this bird, I saw more white in the air to my left...

Another white-winged gull! This one looked smaller...

A look at its head and bill confirmed, an Iceland Gull!

In comparison to the larger glaucous gull, the Iceland's head is smaller and round, a smaller, less heavy bill. It is comparable in size to the ring-billed gull behind it. As its name implies, these bird typically hail from and nest in Iceland and the Arctic.

Plumage of this bird tells us it is a juvenile, probably its first winter. When mature, it's plumage is a silvery grey on its back and wings and white overall, with a red spot on its lower mandible.

A little wind (well, a lot of wind, actually), to ruffle those feathers.
I'm slowly learning that late afternoon is a nice time to catch gulls as they come in to find a roost as the day closes. Or in this case, a free handout, as any opportunistic seagull would...

A car pulled up and started throwing food stuff and the seagulls did as seagulls do, congregated, squabbled, grabbed prizes, flew off with them and returned after gobbling it down. And in this scene you can see that even the most special seagull is simply just a seagull at heart. Some of the best places to find rare gulls are garbage dumps, trash heaps, and parking lots where people throw old bread or whatever they no longer want to eat to the birds. (I do NOT condone dumping old food or feeding wildlife in this manner!)

So Kestrel was right, her crying changed my plan and here were were watching a flock of seagulls be seagulls and picking out two rarities from the very many gathered here. I swear, she knows, at least I like to pretend she does. A birder in the making? I hope so, I'd love to keep sharing these adventures with her.