Rick Collins sent me a link to Porter Airlines, they were offering flights at 40% off, giving me the perfect excuse to finally head to the rock. Newfoundland has been a destination that I put off, not for any particular reason. It is one of the more expensive destinations, which really doesn’t matter that much, ha ha, I suppose going somewhere cold to bird has never been that appealing.

In winter there can be any number of rarities showing up in St John’s. Over the last few years they have had Common Snipe, Lapwing, Redwing, the list goes on and on. It’s not unusual for a European bird to lose it direction and end up in St. John’s.

I really wanted to see Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gull. I had already seen both these birds in Europe but needed them for my ABA list.

I arrived in St. John’s on December 8th, picked up my rental car, checked into the hotel and drove to a spot that I’d been told the gulls had been hanging out. I was not prepared for the shear number of Gulls I saw on my drive downtown. Jared Clarke had suggested I check out Temperance Street, down near the harbor.

As soon as I parked the car on Temperance Street, I could see the Black-headed Gull in the field to the left of the Terry Fox statue. ABA Bird #672 Black-headed Gull was in the books.

Over the next 3 days I saw over 50 individuals, a mix of Adults and Juveniles.

1st CYCLE

1st CYCLE

NON-BREEDING ADULT

BREEDING ADULT (JUNE 2014 NORWAY)

Ciao for now…