[Maine-birds] hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull at Fairfield

Don Mairs and I checked Shawmut Dam on the Kennebec River around mid-day yesterday (10 January). Among the flock of gulls there we found 23 Iceland Gulls, mostly birds still in juvenile plumage, 3 Glaucous Gulls, and a bird that looks like a hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull. The first of three photos showing this bird's medium gray upperparts, slimmer bill, and vaguely Lesser Black-backed-like face pattern are here:

http://flic.kr/p/j6Y2xN
eBird list (click "map" to see location): http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16319368

The gulls come and go at this site, mainly using it for loafing, bathing, and drinking between forays to local dairies both in Fairfield and Clinton. The number of Iceland Gulls here was the most that I have ever seen at one locality at one time in Maine and is especially impressive for an inland location. The origin of the hybrid gull is a puzzle, given the local hybrids and pure Lesser Black-backed of the pair on Appledore have spent the winter on the Atlantic coast of Florida or on the Gulf Coast (one of the banded hybrids).

Louis Bevier
Fairfield

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