Iceland Gull

 Tuesday March 9th

Iceland Gull at Fort Myers Beach
I'm told that it is probably a second-year cycle bird

This current winter birding season has seen a number of out-of-range birds show up in Florida. We're always on look-out for these interesting vagrants. Smooth-billed Anis, Least Grebe and  a Cuban pewee, are a few of our current interesting birds to chase.  Iceland Gulls have been seen in several locations this year, from the Panhandle to Southwest Florida. Their wintering range is usually up in on New England coast line.

The species was one of my target species on a visit to St Marks NWR, in the Panhandle, in early January. Don't know if the really low tide was an influence, during my visit, as to why very few sea birds were present, at the shore.  The expected Iceland Gull was temporarily, absent though. 

But when My friend Dave McQuade recently contacted me with up-to-date information, I was able to easily see an Iceland Gull, locally for me, down at Fort Myers Beach. Got to arrive early in the morning due to traffic and parking issues this time of year. There were several of us waiting at the stack-out spot, including friends Meg Rousher and Janet & Aaron Kurk. We didn't have to wait long when the bird flew in and posed nicely for our cameras.

Several Lesser Black-backed Gulls have been present this year