May 23,2014 Lesser Black-backed Gull at Pembroke, Ontario

On May 21st while birding at the Pembroke Marina I observed and photographed a 3rd year Lesser Black-backed Gull resting with Ring-billed Gulls on the break wall of the marina. The Lesser black-backed Gull is very rare in Renfrew County and most records are from the fall months. The first record for Ontario was found in the Ottawa area during November 1971. This species had increased big time over the last 4 decades but recently the number of sightings have dropped off. During the past decade I had counts up to 20+ individuals along the Ottawa River. The decline may be tied to the changes in dumping practices at local land fill sites. Nowadays there is little food available for the gulls due to the green bin. The days off see 1000's of gulls at local landfill sites appear to gone. As a result the number of gulls in our region has decline significantly.
Good birding,
Bruce

Lesser Black-backed Gull 

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull