New York Times: Rare bird on Coney Island draws birders from afar


A bird seen on Coney Island on Sunday appeared to be a gray-hooded gull, a rare species in North America.
Photo Credit: Hiroko Masuike 

They came from as far as Chicago, Johnstown, Pa., and Pomfret, Conn., making for an unusual scene, even for Coney Island. They lugged cameras with telephoto lenses, binoculars and tripods by the Boardwalk. They excitedly congregated around a yellow pole on the beach. They pointed their cameras toward a light post atop Gyro Corner, on the Boardwalk itself, and then to a puddle in the sand.

Clearly, it was not easy keeping track of a single seagull at the beach. This, however, was no ordinary seagull. It was apparently a gray-hooded gull, possibly from Africa or South America. And the only known sighting of one in the United States accepted by the American Birding Association was in Apalachicola, Fla., on Dec. 26, 1998.

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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 8/2/2011 6:00 AM
Categories: Birds
Tags: gray hooded seagull sea gull coney island beach birds
 

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