PSSSST! WANNA HEAR A JOKE?
KNOCK KNOCK!
WHO’S THERE?
TWITTER!
TWITTER WHO?
HAR HAR! MADE YOU SOUND LIKE AN OWL…!
Photos & vid, Keith Salvesen; Joke, most people on Earth (though not with illustrative pics)
By the end of day 2 during my recent stay at Sandy Point, I thought that I had had just about enough of the laughing gulls Leucophaeus atricilla. They are delightful of course, and (in small doses) a joy to listen to. But their incessant outbursts of humour were getting beyond a joke.
The next day, on the nearby jetty, the gulls were in full cry. A lone brown pelican stood on top of a piling, looking out to sea. A few Royal Terns turned their faces, characteristically, into the light wind. I wandered over and slowly walked down the jetty. This generated some laughter, but the birds were quite content to watch me edge slowly towards them.
Probably, the gulls feel safety in numbers. Maybe they hope the din will send you away. Or perhaps, if approached very carefully, they are simply curious. I got close to the birds, and one in particular caught my eye. It was plainly having a bad-feather day. I took it to be a non-breeding adult, but it lacked the white spots on the tail-feathers (primaries). Maybe it was a first winter juvenile. Whichever, it was happy to pose for me.
I realised, of course, that the jetty belonged to the birds, including the ruddy turnstones that had just joined the gang at the end of the jetty. I was the intruder in their world, and I had willingly visited their territory. So their racket was entirely their business, and absolutely none of mine**.
WHAT DO LAUGHING GULLS SOUND LIKE? ARE YOU OVERSENSITIVE?
I made a couple of short recordings of the gulls in full humour mode. If you have never heard them before, you might want to listen to the full 30 seconds. For anyone else there’s a convenient lull at around 15 secs before they kick off again.
Breeding adult (Birdorable)
**In the UK there’s a thing where someone buys an attractive cottage next to the c15 village church. Then they discover that the clock chimes. And the bell-ringers practise their art on Monday and Thursday evenings. And on Sunday all hell breaks loose, especially if there is Sunday cricket on the village green in the mix. And the occasional ball being hit into the flowerbed. So, complaints are made to the Council, noise abatement orders are sought, legal letters fly round the Parish. And everyone hates the newcomers. Adopting village life with no research? Way to go!
All photos + audio clip: Keith Salvesen / Rolling Harbour
Sandy Point always promises well for birding. There are plenty of ‘good’ birds to see there, depending on the time of year: tropicbirds, frigatebirds, ospreys, brown pelicans, white ibis, cattle egrets, other egrets and herons, kestrels, and a variety of shorebirds. And gulls. We encountered a pair of Laughing Gulls perched on a piling.
To begin with they were laughing merrily. Then they quietened down. Maybe one of them told a somewhat off-colour joke. In the sequence of photos below, you can see the left hand gull tensing and preparing to fly. Then it does – leaving his buddy all alone to contemplate the consequences of causing a sense of humour failure…
This is the sound of a pair of laughing gulls on the Marls objecting as we slowly poled through the mangroves towards them. Not laughing, but complaining…
Photos and movie clip: RH
The Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis is a common winter gull, familiar to all in its adult form because of its… er… ringed bill that distinguishes it from all the other gull species found in the northern Bahamas. There are other differences, obviously, but this beak-related signifier provides the easiest method of ID. To be honest, you may find one anywhere – out to sea, on the shore, inland, or perhaps hanging out at one of the dumps that they are attracted to. This last preference is one shared with many species, but while the dumps may provide good birding venues, the photographic backgrounds and general ambience may be somewhat unattractive… Here are 3 great photos by Nina Henry of these gulls where they look best, near the shoreline.
STOP PRESS Nov 18 Woody Bracey reports from Treasure Cay “I had my first for the fall here in Treasure cay yesterday – one adult and 1 immature. It’s nice to have them back”. So keep an eye out – the ring-billeds are back on Abaco…
The Latin name of these gulls refers to the Delaware River, Pennsylvania, which is on their migration route. But there must have been dozens of other towns along the route with equal claim to have a bird named after them. Why Delaware took the honours, I cannot explain… and thinking about it has inserted the old song in my brain “What did Delaware, boys? What did Delaware? She wore a brand New Jersey…” etc etc**. So I’ll get on and show some more RBGs to get it out of my head. Here are 3 stages of development from Bruce Hallett.
Juvenile
First winter
Adult
Laughing Gulls are gregarious creatures, and are quite often found in a group with some other seabird in the middle of the crowd – often a larger one. Here is a ring-billed gull standing proudly in the throng, while the laughing gulls snooze in the sun on the jetty. 
Photo Credits: Tony Hepburn (1), Nina Henry (2,3,4), Bruce Hallett (5,6,7), Peter Mantle (8)
** If you want to remind yourself – or inflict on yourself for the first time – the entire US-State-related pun-encrusted jingle CLICK DELAWARE DITTY
There are 8 gull species recorded on Abaco. The 5 species shown here all feature in the new ‘Delphi Club Guide to the Birds of Abaco’. The others are the occasional vagrants Black-legged Kittiwake and Black-headed Gull; and the rare winter visitor Great Black-backed Gull. We do in fact have a Black-headed Gull in the archive (in winter plumage), but it was taken on New Providence and wasn’t eligible for inclusion in a book of Abaco birds. Even as a cheat.
Black-headed Gull (winter plumage) NP
HERRING GULL (& header image) (WR 2)
BONAPARTE’S GULL (WR 4)
LAUGHING GULL (PR B 1)
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (WR 2)
RING-BILLED GULL (WR 1)
NOAA ‘SMART BUOY’ (Chesapeake Bay)*
Photo Credits: Bruce Hallett, Woody Bracey, Nina Henry, RH, + NOAA
* Correct. The image is included solely to enable a laboured & old hat pun on ‘girls & boys’.
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
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