The Mew Gull was present at Oceanside High School in Thomaston from 6:40 a.m. until at least 9:30, when the still there. The bird was often on the soccer field around the backside or on the flat-topped roofs either side of the main peaked-roof building. If you don't find the bird on the main building or nearby grass near the elementary school, then try going to the soccer field and climbing the steps there to look back on the flat-topped roofs. Birds there are only visible from that vantage.
As an aside, I think this is a Short-billed Gull, the North American breeding race, brachyrhynchus. These are sometimes considered a distinct species from all the Old World taxa across Europe and Asia. Only Old World Mew Gulls have been documented on the East coast (Newfoundland to New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The previous two documented records from Maine are of such birds. So this bird is very likely a new taxon for the state and the region. As Far East as Ontario up until 3 years ago, only Short-billed (North American) birds had been documented. There is now at least one European race bird that has occurred. I'll have more on this later.
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
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