Probable European Herring Gull in New York! ~ February 28, 2025

The Herring Gull was recently split into American Herring Gull and European Herring Gull. A bird that showed all of the characteristics of a European Herring Gull had been returning to a spot on the northern shore of Long Island, New York for a few winters. With the recent split, a lot more attention was given to this bird when it returned in 2025. I decided to drive there to look for it. I asked a few local birders if they would be interested in joining me. Mike Schall was the only one able to go, so both of us left at around 4:30 AM and started the 140-mile drive to Old Field Point.

After navigating through New York City, we arrived at the point at around 7:30. The gate to the park with the lighthouse didn't open until 8:00, so we birded from just outside the gate for that half-hour. Scanning offshore revealed roughly 40 White-winged Scoters, 20 Black Scoters, and 7 Common Eiders among at least 200 Long-tailed Ducks and around 20 Common Goldeneye.

White-winged Scoters

Black Scoters

Common Eider

When the gate opened, we parked by the lighthouse and checked the rocks and jetties there. On a nearby rock was a gull with a mantle color between an American Herring Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull that had yellow legs. It was the probable European Herring Gull! I took as many photos of as many different angles and poses of it as I could since documentation of all of the different identification points would determine its acceptance as one.

The probable European Herring Gull showing its mantle color between an American Herring Gull and a Lesser Black-backed Gull and its yellow legs. Also note the fairly clean white head with a dark area encircling the pale eye with a red orbital ring, and the red on the bill restricted to the lower mandible (no red on the upper mandible).

The probable European Herring Gull showing the top of its wings spread in flight and a blow-up of the left wing primaries. Note only a tiny area of black on the otherwise completely white tip of 'P10', the long gray 'tongues' on 'P8' and 'P7', and only a tiny mark of black on 'P5'.

The probable European Herring Gull showing the top of its wings spread in flight and a blow-up of the right wing primaries. Again, note the completely white tip of 'P10', the long gray 'tongues' on 'P8' and 'P7', and the absence of black on 'P5'.

The probable European Herring Gull showing the underside of its primaries. Note the long pale gray 'tongue' on 'P10'.

Here are some photos from a gull guide showing the identification points of the race of European Herring Gull commonly found in Scandinavia. Compare these points with the ones shown in my photos above. All of them match almost exactly to this New York bird.

Back out at the gate, we looked down over the bluffs and saw an Iceland Gull and a Black-headed Gull among around a hundred Brant and over a hundred Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls.

Iceland Gull

Black-headed Gull

On the east side of the lighthouse was a Great Cormorant and several Red-breasted Mergansers.

Great Cormorant

Red-breasted Mergansers

We decided to head back home at around noon so that we'd get back through New York City before the afternoon rush hour traffic started up. That went according to plan. Now we just have to wait and see what the New York records committee decides.

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Forks of the Delaware ~ February 26, 2025

I went back to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to hopefully refind the "mystery gull" that I saw there yesterday. I scanned the changing groups of gulls for almost three hours and never saw it. The only consolation prize was a Great Black-backed Gull that towered over the 59 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 16 American Herring Gulls.

A first-winter Great Black-backed Gull.

Also seen there were 4 Buffleheads, a Common Merganser, and a pair of croaking Common Ravens.

A pair of Common Ravens.

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Martins Creek PPL Power Plant Area and the Forks of the Delaware ~ February 25, 2025

I spent the morning in the area around the Martins Creek PPL power plant. On the pond, I found 78 Ring-necked Ducks, 32 Buffleheads, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Lesser Scaup, a Greater Scaup, a female Redhead, and an American Wigeon.

American Wigeon

Around 2000 Snow Geese were seen flying in the direction of Merrill Creek Reservoir. I also found a Cackling Goose among the Canadas, providing a nice comparison between the two.

A Cackling Goose with some Canada Geese.

Also notice that the Cackling Goose is also much more smaller than the 2 Snow Geese that were there.

A Cackling Goose between two Snow Geese.

Down at the Martins Creek PPL boat launch area, a female Red-breasted Merganser was spotted on the rocks by the bridge, but it flew before I could get a photo. A Bald Eagle circled over the river and stirred up the 43 Ring-billed Gulls.

Bald Eagle

Other birds seen there included a Mute Swan, 2 Buffleheads, 3 Hooded Mergansers and one Common Merganser plus 22 American Robins.

I left there and headed down to the "Forks of the Delaware" in Easton to check for gulls. Most of the roughly 400 gulls were on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. While scanning through the flock, I came across a gull that I couldn't identify to species. What caught my eye was its very noticeably barred back. It had a clean white head with a smudge around the eye. It also had what appeared to be a small, all-dark bill like that of a young Iceland Gull, but the head shape was wrong and the wingtips were all dark. The head was too clean and the bill appeared too small for Herring Gull. Vega Gull could be a very remote possibility, but so is the possibility of a dreaded hybrid. I couldn't really determine the leg color.

A "Mystery Gull".

I went home and got out my gull guides and still couldn't pin this bird to a particular species. I plan on going down there again tomorrow to see if I can refind it and hopefully get some much closer and better photos.

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