I spent much of the afternoon searching through the gulls at Sandy Point State Park. Nothing too unusual in this regards, but there were a lot of the common species (Great Black-backed, Herring, Ring-billed, and Laughing) to search though. However, later in the evening, I began just scanning the birds flying over the bay, including large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants heading south over the water towards the Bay Bridge. Four closely grouped cormorants came close to the shore at Sandy Point, flying south towards the bridge. The first of the four birds was noticably larger than the other three. I got on the flock with my bins, then with my scope and was able to view all four cormorants as they flew towards me, past me over the bay, and then away from me. The first cormorant was significantly bulkier than the other three birds, especially the body, but the bird also appeared thicker through the neck. As the flock passed by, I could see that the first bird was also significantly longer than the other three. And, as the birds flew away from, it was obvious that the one bird had a noticably longer wing span. I also noticed that the larger cormorant had a pale belly, although I couldn't make out the full pattern below.
Although I only saw the bird in flight, I feel comfortable identifiying the bird as a Great Cormorant, given the obvious larger size in comparison with the other birds in the group. I saw the bird from a variety of angles, and the longer length, greater wingspan, and bulkier, larger body were obvious. Total viewing time was probably around 30 seconds. The group was only 150 feet or so from shore when they passed me.
Other birds of note included 6 Sanderlings, 1 Caspian Tern, 2 Royal Terns, and 15+ Forster's Terns.
Fred Shaffer
<GlaucousGull...>
Crofton, Anne Arundel
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