Thayer's Gull near Rossport

Yesterday we enjoyed what might have been our last ice fishing day of the season on Lake Superior. The fishing was outstanding - jumbo yellow perch, lake whitefish, lake herring, rainbow smelt (!) and coaster brook trout were all biting - the out-of-season coaster was sent right back down the hole. All of this action drew a coterie of (mostly) Herring Gulls.

Among them was a first year Thayer's Gull, my first of the winter. I had the luxury of observing this bird at very close range over the course of hours - a change from scoping out gulls among piles of fresh household garbage at the Marathon tip.

I'd like to thank Kirk Zufelt for confirming the identity of the bird.



When we arrived, I also heard a tree full of Pine Siskins, another first of the season. While they are absent this winter from the Marathon area, we are told they are abundant in the Thunder Bay area.