I made a run up to Port Washington in Ozaukee County early this morning in hopes to see the Laughing Gull that was reported yesterday. Upon arriving at 7:00 am, I could see the adult Laughing Gull after making about 10 steps away from the car. Wow, what a stunning gull! This gull is rare here as it is a East Coast bird that. The gull was located at the rough beach-sandy shore on the north end of the marina. The bird pretty much ate most of the time I observed it, on and off during a 3 hour stay, I traveled to Coal Dock Park for awhile and then returned. Ring-billed Gulls gave it a hard time on and off with a little chasing. The harbor was full of gulls everywhere you looked. Hopefully more rare birds will be found at this location as it has been really great most of the winter. Birders I have not seen for awhile showed for this gull, Daryl T, Tom W, Ted K and John M. We all had a fun time enjoying the great show the gull put on and talking bird stories too. A big thank you to Barry Baumann for finding this bird yesterday and getting the word out for others to see it. This was not a life bird as I saw one at Coal Dock Park back in June of 2014. It was a beautiful morning with mild temps, low winds, and mostly sunny skies. Images were taken on February 28, 2018.
Laughing Gull, wet head just after some bathing…
Laughing Gull
Binomial name: Larus Atricilla
Category: Gulls,Terns, and Skimmers
Size: 16.5” long, 40” wing span
Weight: 11 Oz
Cool Fact: Normal range for this gull is the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States.
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, incoming to the beach area…
Laughing Gull, went from fish to fish eating inside parts of the fish…
Laughing Gull, went from fish to fish eating inside parts of the fish…
Laughing Gull, went from fish to fish eating inside parts of the fish…
Laughing Gull, went from fish to fish eating inside parts of the fish…
Laughing Gull, went from fish to fish eating inside parts of the fish…
Laughing Gull, wet head, series of the gull bathing…
Bathing…
Bathing…
Bathing…
Bathing…
Bathing…
Preening…
Typically setting today for the Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gulls everywhere!
Ring-billed Gull charging the Laughing Gull some, this happened frequently…
More feeding…this was on going…
Feeding…
Ring-billed Gull with a fish…
Ring-billed Gull with a fish…
Ring-billed Gull with a fish…..it was all fish eaters there today!
Nice to see a laughing gull in Wisconsin! Beautiful photos, Jim.
Wow! Jim Edlhuber’s “Wild America”. 🙂
Once again your camera is able to capture more detail than I can see through my spotting scope. Excellent close-up images, Jim. It was good to see you yesterday, Jim, and thanks both for helping me locate this bird and for sharing your images with us.
We saw a bird similar to the Laughing Gull in Lake Winnebago, Fond du Lac today. I didn’t get a picture, but I don’t remember the birds having a black tail, but I could be wrong. I wonder if they were Laughing Gulls. Have you heard of them in Lake Winnebago? They look to be the same size as one of your pictures.
Interesting article, Jim. I was at the marina area in Port Washington the other day and was stunned by how many seagulls were swooping and diving and fishing. It was a vast amount of seagulls. I am wondering if this is normal? Has it always been this way? I’m new to the area, so I don’t have any benchmark for comparison.