Ivory Gull! - 12 Mar 2017

Lauren LaFave is probably the most popular woman in Michigan today. Yesterday, she reported seeing what looked like an Ivory Gull on the Flint River in the middle of the University of Michigan - Flint Campus in Flint, MI. This morning, Adam Byrne, and a whole slew of other birders, refound the  bird near the dam in the middle of campus. This bird of the Arctic Circle represents Michigan's 2nd record of this species.

Epilogue: Sadly, today (3/13/2017) the Ivory Gull was found dead next to the riverbank just hours after several people saw it for the last time. The body was collected and taken to UofM Ann Arbor Zoology Dept. where they will do a necropsy and tissue samples, and add the bird to their collection.
This evening I got the opportunity to meet Lauren at Kensington Metropark, where I gave a shorebird talk to the Huron Valley Audubon Society. She told me she was invited to see the bird in Ann Arbor and is planning to go there tomorrow. Lauren, the bird was delightful, but you were moreso. Congratulation on your find!