I had just started leading a private tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway early in the morning on August 20, 2026 when I received a text on the Blue Ridge Birders text chat that simply said –
“Sabines Gull @ EP!!”
The text was from Michael Plauche who regularly birds Ecusta
Pond (EP), where he has found numerous rarities, though perhaps none as rare as
a Sabine’s Gull.
Oh how I wanted to skip out on the tour and go chasing after
the gull, but the client comes first. Luckily
the Gull continued (along with a not-too-rare Black Tern) throughout the
morning. So when the tour was done, I
headed straight for Transylvania County and Ecusta Pond.
Michael and a couple other birders were there when I arrived
and the bird was cooperatively swimming out on the lake. I got this barely passable phone-scoped photo
of the bird.
And the Black Tern continued as well.
Surprisingly, the Gull continued at the pond for 7 days – I
guess I didn’t need to stress about getting there so quickly after all.
Sabine’s Gull was #331 for my NC state list. My state bird map for Sabine’s Gull is inserted
below. I’ve seen this species in 2 light
blue-shaded states (CA and AK) in its regular range, and as a rarity in 5 dark
blue-shaded states (MA, NH, VT, NY, and now NC).
As an aside, there is some debate about the correct pronunciation of this bird’s name. You’d imagine this bird was named after someone named Sabine, and the bird’s name would be pronounced the same way Mr. or Mrs. Sabine pronounced their name. This quote on the Sabine’s Gull is from the St. Louis Audubon website:-
“Arctic gull named after a distinguished Irish scientist and
naturalist, Edward Sabine, who apparently pronounced his name to rhyme with
“cabin”. “
It’s official. And
it’s not pronounced anything like Sabine Pass on the Texas Gulf Coast.
