Black-legged Kittiwake Archives - Window to Wildlife

I made the run up to Green Bay early morning to see if the juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake was still present. It was at light broke in the bay area. The bird circled around the east side of the river opening near the old pier walk structure. Typically what I noticed this morning was after a few circles around, it sat out in the water farther out by itself. It did that for 15-20 minutes then did some more hunting and feeding around the structure. For almost an hour it was no where to be seen. As it got towards 10 am I watched it fly way out and landed in with a couple hundred Ring-billed Gulls on a sheet of ice. That is probably where it was earlier when it was not around as I thought I saw it a few feet off the ice with those gulls but it was very far out confirm. A fun but cold morning, stiff wind made it feel like January. The sun shinned for only for a minute or two. Very cool life bird that I can finally add to my life list. The normal range for this bird is breeding in the arctic on the coasts and winters on the eastern and western US coasts. A big thank you to Willson Gaul for finding this exciting bird and getting the word out to the birding community. Images were taken on December 12, 2016.