In early October, we had a large flock of about 50 ducks that we fed on our shoreline in the hopes of giving them a safe haven away from the hunters. The flock was joined by a lone Ring-billed Gull. The gull ate the corn we spread – right in the middle of the ducks – and they seemed not to mind at all. When it ws done with the corn it went up under our bird feeder and waited there patiently looking around for the Blue Jays to come to feed and drop a peanut or two onto the ground for him/her to snatch up ! The gull actually looked for the Blue Jays and made its way over to the feeder as soon as the jays arrived.
The bird seemed to be in perfect health, but it never ventured far from the yard except to sit on the end of our raised dock and mostly it stayed close to the ducks and the tidbits the Blue Jays dropped to the ground. It was the only gull we saw on our end of the lake at the time. Not sure if this is “normal” behaviour or not but we quite enjoyed watching the show. Even if this isn’t unusual, it is new to us……and the good news is that the gull doesn’t make any noise at all…no squawking.
Nancy Cafik, Chemong Lake
Note: As of November 20, the gull was still hanging around with the ducks. DM
Ring-billed Gull – Barb Evett
