I had good morning and noon walks around Schoolhouse Pond today, enjoying the great fall weather. The Ruddy Ducks had all moved on, but the highlight this morning was a vocalizing Red-breasted Nuthatch. At noon, there were moderate numbers of gulls swirling in the sky over the pond, with some Laughing Gulls dropping down to the water briefly before moving off. Like the other days, the vast majority of the gulls were Laughing Gulls, but I did get great flight views of one adult non-breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gull. It was gliding in a somewhat circular motion in a flock of Laughing Gulls and made several passes over the pond before moving off in the direction of Depot Pond. I got great views of the bird in flight from below, including the white underside of the wing with the dark trailing edge and the somewhat translucent wingtips. Also flying over at lunchtime was a 3rd year Bald Eagle and a very high accipiter. Lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers were present and calling from the trees. Good birding,
Fred Shaffer
<GlaucousGull...>
Crofton, Anne Arundel
--
|