Lunch w/ Bonaparte! - 05 Nov 2009

I stopped at Bishop Park in Wyandotte during lunch break and parked facing the Detroit River. For the first time ever I spotted a Bonaparte's Gull perched on the railing normally reserved for the scads of Ring-billed Gulls.

For days I've been watching groups of 3 - 5 Bonaparte's Gulls working the river upstream and down. I've noticed that the adult birds tend to stay in the middle of the river, while the younger birds will drift closer to shore.

Today I spotted a young bird back in the corner of the pier, casually swimming and feeding on minnows. I grabbed the camera and tripod and hiked down to get some shots. The sun broke through the clouds on occasion and illuminated the water, which reflected the red and golden hues of the trees above.

The bird paid slight attention to me, and continued to fly several feet before diving and retrieving a minnow. I took over 300 frames before leaving the bird to to continue its lunch.

Nice 20 minutes!

Wyandotte, Wayne, Michigan, US
Nov 5, 2009 12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Stationary
1 species

Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42236725

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