Adult Sabine's Gull in Ohio!

November 3rd was a memorable day for Chuck Slusarczyk and Mike Egar. While birding Wendy Park on the Cleveland Lakefront, they spotted a mega for Ohio - Sabine's Gull! That's Sah-been's, or if you prefer the proper German pronunciation, Sah-been-ah's. The latter has the best ring to it, in my opinion, as in "I just found a beautiful Sah-been-ah's Gull! Not just any old run of the mill Xema sabini, either, if such a phrase can be applied to a species that only shows a few times a year in Ohio. This was a full adult, and not only that, it is in some sort of delayed molt and still retaining its grayish-black hood, trimmed with an ebony collar!

 

As of today, the bird is still hanging out along the Cleveland Lakefront, delighting scores of observers. Chuck and Mike got the word out pronto and people were on the scene in a blink. Shortly after spotting the bird, it headed east and out of sight, but was refound a few miles away at East 55th Street marina. The Sabine's Gull then appeared at Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve and its been hanging around there ever since.

 

Congratulations to Chuck and Mike on an outstanding find. And kudos to Chuck for nabbing the stunning images that follow, and for graciously sharing them with us.

 

A stunner indeed, and unmistakable with that bold pattern of triangles, forked tail, smoky head and yellow-tipped bill. We see a few Sabine's Gulls each fall, and September thru mid-November is prime time. But there have been only a few documented occurrences of adults - virtually all of our records are of juveniles, such as THIS BIRD.

You won't see many shots of Sabine's Gull that best this one. We can even see the bird's flashy crimson mouth lining!

Sabine's Gulls breed in the high arctic, and one segment of the population winters along the Humboldt Current in the southern Pacific Ocean off South America. Birds that nest in eastern Canada and Greenland - which I presume includes this bird? - travel to southwest Africa where they winter around the cold waters of the Benguela Current in the South Atlantic. These birds are truly globe-trotters, and spend most of their lives at sea.

Sabine's Gull is small and diminutive, and not prone to scavenging garbage as is this curious Ring-billed Gull. This is a great comparison shot of two larids who don't often mingle. The Ring-billed outweighs the comparatively dainty Sabine's Gull by about three times!

One can only imagine the thrill that coursed through the English astronomer Edward Sabine when he first spotted this animal in 1818, on an expedition to the high arctic. Sabine was accompanying Captain John Ross, who was attempting to discover the as yet to be found Northwest Passage. They failed in the primary mission, but this beautiful gull was some compensation. Upon his return, Sabine sent his specimen to his brother, Joseph Sabine, who then described the bird to science and named it in his brother's honor.

A superb animal, and a real treat for Ohio birders. Hopefully this Sabine's Gull will stick for a few more days, and allow the fawning masses of binocular-toters to bask in its presence.

Congratulations again to Chuck and Mike for a totally excellent discovery!

Sabine's Gull visits Ohio

Sabine's Gull is one of the most beautiful and graceful of the gulls; a far cry from the french fry-seeking plunderers of McDonald's scraps that some of their larger brethren are.

Kenn Kaufman found an exceptionally cooperative first-year (first-cycle for those of you that follow the nomenclature of the hour) Sabine's Gull last Sunday, November 21st, at Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area along western Lake Erie. We see only a few Sabine's Gulls a year in Ohio, and virtually all of them are briefly glimpsed flybys out over Lake Erie on blustery fall days.

This bird is unusual in that it is sticking tight to the same spot where Kenn found it, allowing many a birder to relocate it. Matt Valencic was there yesterday, and kindly allowed me to share his amazing shots of this Sabine's Gull.

Photo courtesy of Matt Valencic

When at rest on the water, this 1st-year Sabine's Gull stands out from the nearby Bonaparte's Gulls by its brown back.

Photo courtesy of Matt Valencic

In flight, Sabine's Gulls are transformed, becoming works of geometrical beauty. Excepting the black band terminating the tail, the bird is all about triangles. Thus, Sabine's Gull is very distinctive and unmistakeable even from great distances.

Photo courtesy of Matt Valencic

This is an incredible photo, and we can even see that the bird is lifting its head to look about, possibly at the mob of birders looking at it.

As good-looking as the young birds are, adult Sabine's Gulls, especially in alternate (breeding) plumage, look even better. The brownish tones change to crisp gray, and they develop a dark charcoal hood with a black collar at its base. There are hardly any records of adults in Ohio, thus the flock of eight - seven immature and one adult - that materialized at Huron on September 15, 1984 must have caused the observers to nearly faint.

Normally one would have to travel to Arctic breeding grounds to see adult Sabine's Gulls, or see the species in any numbers. And that's what Sir Edward Sabine did in 1818, as an astronomer on expedition to the high Arctic. Apparently celestial objects weren't the only thing Sabine saw when he looked aloft, as he is credited as discoverer of this beautiful little gull, and it was named in his honor by his brother Joseph.

Photo courtesy of Matt Valencic

Away from their breeding grounds, Sabine's Gulls are highly pelagic (ocean-going), normally migrating far out at sea. And they go a long ways. Most of these little gulls winter in tropical seas far from where they bred, off South America and even Africa where they frequent the cold waters of the Humboldt and Benguela Currents, respectively. If this bird is part of the eastern Canada breeding population, and all goes well for it, it'll be off the coast of southwest Africa before long.

Thanks to Kenn for finding this Sabine's Gull and getting word out nearly instantly, and to Matt Valencic for sharing his remarkable photos with us.