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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019
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Jonathan Williams
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SABINE GULL STOPS BY
PENINSULA ON ROUTE
TO ARCTIC TUNDRA
By MADELINE KALBACH
L
Madeline Kalbach
The gull was observed walking the wrack line in search of a tasty morsel.
ONG BEACH, Wash. — There was
excitement on the beach recently.
Thousands of sanderlings, a few
Caspian terns, fl ocks of Heermann’s
gulls, several black-bellied plovers,
glaucous-winged gulls and the sight-
ing of a rare Sabine’s gull capped a day
of exhilaration on the beach. This rare
gull was on migration from its breeding
grounds in the Arctic tundra.
My friend Linda informed me that
Russ Lewis, who faithfully cleans
our ocean beach, had photographed
a Sabine’s gull near some large kelp.
The next morning, I set off with my
friend Susan for the beach during low
tide to look for this rare bird. Luckily,
we found it. It was very cooperative
as I was able to photograph it feeding,
walking and resting.
Sabine’s gull is rare on the Penin-
sula, which means that while it may be
seen, it is generally only seen at inter-
vals of two to fi ve years. The Pacifi c
County checklist records it as hard to
fi nd, but usually seen annually. This
was an especially signifi cant and excit-
ing sighting because it was a life bird
for me and a rare sighting on the Penin-
sula. It is a migrant that mainly travels
offshore along the West Coast and one
that is rarely seen from land. It was not
surprising to see a lone bird because
they generally don’t mix with other
gulls or travel in large fl ocks. It was by
itself walking, resting along the hard
beach sand and feeding at the wrack
line. In general, the Sabine’s gull favors
aquatic insects, crustaceans, zooplank-
ton and fi sh.
The fi eld marks indicating that I had
indeed found the Sabine’s gull were its
black bill with a yellow tip and its dark
gray hood with a black lower border.
“The Sibley Guide to Birds” (2014)
indicates the latter as being character-
istically unique. It is a small gull, at
13.5 inches which is about the size of
an American crow. The Cornell Lab of
Ornithology describes other features
that I was unable to see, including the
fact that its wings reveal a “bold pat-
tern of black, white and gray triangles
in fl ight,” and its tail is notched.
To have an exciting day like this on
the beach every day would be abso-
lute heaven, but in retrospect, birding
on the beach is always exhilarating and
a heavenly experience. The next time
you go birding on the beach keep your
eyes open for peninsula rarities migrat-
ing south from the Arctic tundra such as
the Sabine’s gull.
Madeline Kalbach is a contributor
to the Chinook Observer and professor
emerita of sociology at the University
of Calgary.
Susan Stauff er
Identifying this Sabine’s gull on the peninsula was a rare chance for local birders to add a rare species to their
lifetime lists of sightings.
Madeline Kalbach
Madeline Kalbach
The Sabine’s gull sports a black beak with a yellow tip and a dark gray hood with a lower black border.
A lone Sabine’s gull pokes in beach debris in search of a
meal, displaying its distinctive forked tail.