IOS Gull Frolic Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club Lake County Illinois Audubon

Indeed it was a gull frolic (and ducks as well) on this beautiful bright sunny and cold Saturday on Lake Michigan in Lake County, Illinois. Temperatures in the teens were irrelevant as birders enjoyed a variety of wintering waterfowl on calm seas with little wind and the respite of a cozy yacht club only steps away. Orange capped IOS members with water fowl expertise shouted out sightings and interpreted the indistinguishable field marks as indications of second year or third year Thayer's Gulls or what have you.

No one was left behind and most saw something entirely new or reasonably rare. Not surprisingly, the event was a magnet for frequent birders from around Illinois and the region. For educational stimulation and to offer a warm place to hide from the outdoors, Steve Bailey, an ornithologist with the Natural History Survey, presented seminars on raptors.

By general consensus the day's bird list looked something like this:

Canada Goose             Mallard American                Black Duck
Redhead                        Ring-necked Duck              Greater Scaup
Common Goldeneye   Bufflehead                            Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck                   Bald Eagle                            American Coot
Ring-billed Gull             Great Black-backed Gull   Glaucous Gull
Iceland Gull                   Thayer's Gull                        Herring Gull

The Lake-Cook Audubon Chapter of I.A.S. together with many local area birding and environmental groups, municipalities and several individuals helped to sponsor this year's event. You can visit the IOS website here. Special thanks to the volunteers who always are responsible for making great events like this happen.

View detail gull pictures taken at the Gull Frolic including identification at this web page published by IOS member Geoff Williamson