May 29
Good Morning
Last Thursday night while most Albertan were watching the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames compete in the Stanley Cup playoff run, I was out on Hastings Lake in my kayak. It was an absolutely stunning evening. The was almost no wind, about 20°C and sunny.
I was looking for the Sabine’s Gull. This is a gull that is normally found on the west coast but there are a few that migrate through Alberta. I had been out a day earlier but had only seen one far away in the middle of the lake through my binoculars. It had flown around for about thirty seconds and I saw its distinctive wing pattern.
A good friend of mine mentioned that over 50 had been reported later that day. So I decided to use my kayak to see if I could get closer.
I arrived at the lake around 7:00 pm and got my boat in the water. Hastings Lake is a major stop for many types of gulls and some gulls and pelicans breed there on small offshore islands. The air was full of Franklin's Gulls and Forester’s Terns but no Sabine's. I had seen the Sabine's about 2 kilometres from my launch point so I headed out into the middle of the lake and headed west, I very soon spotted my first Sabine’s Gull. I watched it fly about 400 meters away and approached it slowly with the sun at my back. I managed to get a few good shots before it took off again. I realized I would have to wait for the sun to get lower because the contrast between the white body and dark head was too much. So I continued west encountering more Sabine's as I went.
I noticed that the Sabine's were feeding by sitting on the water and picking up flies from the air around them. They also stirred the water with their feet , which I assume was bringing up larvae that they were also eating. The Franklin’s gulls were flying about a half meter off the water catching flies on the wing. This explains why most birders were reporting only one or two gulls as they are very hard to see from shore and they look very similar from a distance to Franklin’s when sitting on the the water. I estimate I saw close to forty but it was hard to count without binoculars. Kayaking limits the amount of equipment you want to be handling.
I went very far west on the lake and then worked my way back through the birds until sunset. After the sunset, I went closer to shore and listened to an American Bittern calling from the reeds. A beaver swam to about ten feet from my kayak before it noticed me and slapped its tail and dove under the water. It was 10 pm by the time I reached my launch point , still warm and calm.
Stay Well
