On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
It’s Albatrossity Monday! Followed by a lovely 4-part series from Mike S, filled with birds, plants, flowers, and scenery.
We have 2 more weeks of posts in the queue, and then we’re out, so if you’ve been thinking about sending something in, now is the time to do it! :-)
Albatrossity
Something a little different for today, which necessitates a longer preamble.
I don’t usually chase rare birds, even if they are relatively close. I’m more of a photographer than a birder these days. It might be more accurate to say that I chase pictures, so this is a tale of a picture chase that happened on Monday Feb 3, 2025.
On Friday the week before, a birder friend of mine reported that there was an adult Ross’s Gull (Rhodostethia rosea) on a frozen playa south of Dodge City KS, which is about 4 hours from my home. To understand how bizarre this sighting was, you have to be a birder, but I can give you some background that may help.
This is a species that breeds in the high Arctic in the summer, and spends its winters on pack ice in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean The range map here shows that quite graphically (blue is winter range, red is summer range, the tiny “x” is this bird’s location in the middle of the continent). In other words, these birds are above or adjacent to the Arctic Circle year-round. This one was clearly way out of range. These birds do wander south occasionally, and in fact there is one other record for this species in Kansas, which showed up for a few hours a few miles from my home here in Manhattan KS in Jan 2009. Very few Kansas birders got to see that one; a crowd of out-of-town folks failed to find it the next day. I was one of those lucky few, and my pictures helped document the bird and add it to the official list of birds seen in Kansas.
But I had better photographic equipment now, and I wanted better pictures. I also thought a road trip would be good, since I would be off the grid and away from the news for a while. So, once it was clear that the bird was sticking around for a while (many birders, both from KS and from out-of-state, viewed it over the weekend), I headed west early Monday morning.
When I arrived, it was sunny, breezy, and warm (75 °F). There were 5 people with binoculars and scopes standing at the side of the road near the playa. That’s always a good sign. I asked if the bird was still there, and the reply was yes, but not right now. It had flown away to the west a few minutes earlier, but they all expected it to return. And indeed, after a few minutes of chatting with these folks (a couple from Texas, one from Kansas, one from Chicago, and one other), the bird came winging in from the east. Click here for larger image.
Despite the temperature, the playa was still partly frozen, and the bird landed on the ice, only about 30 ft. from the road. Field marks for this species include red feet and legs, small black bill, black post-ocular spot on the head, a wide white trailing edge on the wings, and a wedge-shaped tail. It checked all of these off, and I already had better pictures after only about 5 minutes of waiting! Click here for larger image.
The bird proceeded to preen, oblivious to the humans on the road just a few yards away. I also got a video of some of that activity. If you look closely you can still see some hints of the rosy color that defines the breeding plumage, and which gives this bird its specific epithet Click here for larger image.
This gull strongly resembled a dove when it was on the ground. It is about the same size as a collared-dove, and it nodded its head when it walked, as doves do. Click here for larger image.
After preening, it seemed to be nap time. Or maybe it was just sapped by the heat. I suspect that this bird had never been in 75° temperatures in its entire life. Click here for larger image.
A brief nap was followed by a short flight. The light was perfect, and the bird headed into the wind, which meant that it would have a slower air speed and in-flight pictures should be pretty sharp. Here are a few of those. Click here for larger image.
This one shows the white trailing edge on the wings quite well. Click here for larger image.
The wedge-shaped tail shows well in this image. Click here for larger image.
The bird landed at its favorite feeding spot, a partially submerged Snow Goose carcass. Scavenging carrion is not unusual for these birds, particularly in winter, and there is even one report of a Ross’s Gull feeding on walrus dung… I wondered if the goose had perished from the avian influenza, in which case this gull would probably get that fatal infection as well. Since there were other snow goose carcasses on that playa and nearby, it seemed quite possible. Life is not easy for birds who wander far from their homes and normal habitats. Click here for larger image.
Final shot, a portrait of a lovely, delicate, and exceedingly rare bird. Godspeed, little guy, and I hope you make it back to the Arctic in time to find a mate and raise some youngsters. Click here for larger image.
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Jeffg166
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TBone
Love the birds theme today and what a cool post with photos and learning!
TBone
@Jeffg166: that’s great!
Skeletons out dancing in moral indignation!
TBone
PS what is the bird in today’s photo by frosty?
J.
What a great story and great pictures! Hope that gull makes it back up north.
Tom
What a great story and set of photos to start the day. Thank you
SteveinPHX
Thank you very much for the photos and the backstory that goes with the photos! Neat!
Albatrossity
@TBone: I think Frosty’s picture shows a Black Oystercatcher.
Donatellonerd
just wow and thanks!
sab
I hope the little guy finds his way back north. Was he swept down in the weakened polar vortex that let the Artic air south?
OT We have been watching Gunsmoke reruns, and I had no idea the mountains in Kansas were so big.
DFH
Thanks, Albatrossity! Good way to put good images into the brain this morning.
Gloria DryGarden
@sab: um, mountains in Kansas? On a clear day one can see across to Colorado. I’ve driven across Kansas. Perhaps there were undulations, rolling hills.. I m puzzled
sab
@Gloria DryGarden: I agree.
They filmed Gunsmoke in California, then pretended it was Kansas.
The huge mountains always make us laugh.
sab
Deleted. Wrong thread.
MCat
Thanks so much for telling us about that lovely little bird. I also hope he makes it back to the arctic and that he has a great life. Godspeed, little bird.
zhena gogolia
So beautiful, thank you.
zhena gogolia
@Gloria DryGarden: There are the Flint Hills. But they don’t look like mountains.
Albatrossity
@sab: Yeah, I always found it amusing that a horseback ride out of Dodge brought you into steep canyons and mountains. Very confusing since I grew up about 50 miles from Dodge!
Gloria DryGarden
Fascinating story, of this Arctic bird. Hope it doesn’t catch avian flu.
Albatrossity
@Gloria DryGarden: Sadly, the minute after I sent this completed submission to Balloon Juice last Wednesday, the next thing I opened on my computer was a note from a wildlife biologist in western Kansas, saying that the bird was deceased and that its body had been recovered. It was too soon for me to even think about modifying this post, I was hit by a wave of sadness and grief.
The body will be analysed and tested for H5N1, and then it will find its way to a museum collection as a rare/unique study skin. Unfortunately this is a common ending for vagrants this far away from their home range, and particularly for sea birds who wander to the middle of a continent. I’m glad I got to see it and spend some time watching it, but I’d trade all of that for the knowledge that it was safe and home again. ‘Twas not to be.
Jim Appleton
@Albatrossity: Sad but not unexpected ending to a good story.
Thank you for your dedication and fine work.
mvr
@Albatrossity: These are wonderful photos!
But a pretty sad ending to the story.
West of the Cascades
I love your photos! Thank you for these wonderful posts that are a reminder of the beauty of nature and a welcome distraction from What Is Happening.
I’m curious what sort of equipment you are using to get these great photos (or link to somewhere you have already posted this)?
sab
@Albatrossity: That is sad, but don’t migrating birds have astronomical death rates, like 20% per year?
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Exciting sighting, for such a difficult to find bird. The sad ending is disappointing, but not unexpected as you say.
TBone
@Albatrossity: thank you, I love learning!
ETA with my love of raw oysters, I need one of those hahaha!
We have this in comon too
TBone
@Albatrossity: you’re like a cool breeze blowing through Dodge!
Albatrossity
@West of the Cascades: These were shot with an OM-1 camera body and the Olympus 150-400mm zoom telephoto lens. If there is a better rig out there for hand-held birds-in-flight photography, I am unaware of it. It is a joy to use!
And joy is more and more necessary these days.
West of the Cascades
@Albatrossity: Thank you! Your weekly posts are the avian equivalent of cute cat pictures (and my own cute indoor non-bird-attacking cats), which I am resorting more and more to these days.