PORT O'CONNOR
PELAGIC September 20, 1997 Aboard the Chip XI
Subject: Sept. 20 Port 'Connor Results
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 15:00:30 -0500
From: Russell Graham
No weedlines, no large sargassum mats and only 1 feeding-frenzy school
of fish (which is where the only flock of Sooty Terns was located)
hampered our trip but we ended on a high note! Unless noted otherwise,
the numbers below are the unofficial maximum number (seen at one time by myself)
for each species.
Note: Juvenile Sabine's Gull (first spotted by Dwight Peake and
seen by all) among a feeding-flock of Black Terns with only about
30 minutes of daylight left. I believe this is only the second pelagic
record for Texas (the first being 25 Oct 1964 off Galveston). What a
great way to end the trip!
Congrats to Petra on her "lifer" Sabine's Gull. (We're both having
pelagic withdrawals already!)
Russell Graham
Dallas, Texas
Subject: Sabine's Gull
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 22:55:53
From: Russell Graham
There is some controversy regarding the age of the bird seen on
Saturday's pelagic. Several people on the trip apparently believe
the bird was a basic-plumaged adult. In my original post of the
results of Saturday's trip, I called the bird a juvenile. I now
believe that both IDs are wrong.
When Dwight first spotted the bird, he ID'd it as an immature.
{Unfortunately, his e-mail is not working right now and he can
not comment electronically.} When I got on the bird, I was immediately
struck by its bi-colored bill and an extensive black hood (along with
the diagnostic wing pattern). My first thought was an adult molting
into basic plumage. Then I noticed the black band on the tail (a field
mark of a juvenile bird). After consulting several reference books, I
think the bird was a 1st summer (2nd calendar year) bird. This is the
only explanation that I can think of that fits the field marks and the
timing of molt in Sabine's Gulls. The only thing rarer than an adult
Sabine's Gull in Texas would be a basic-plumaged bird. Most, if not all,
adults molt after leaving North America. Incidentally, I have been on
numerous pelagics off California and have seen thousands of Sabine's
Gulls over the years but I have never seen a basic-plumaged adult.
Here's my description in a nutshell:
Black bill with yellow tip. Incomplete hood (much more extensive
than the dark nape of a basic-plumaged adult). "Wing wedge" and back
were not concolor gray as would be expected for an eclipse adult.
The "wing wedge" was brownish and the back was gray. Tail had a
dark band.
Any thoughts?
Russell Graham
Dallas, Texas
