I spent much of the afternoon looking through the gulls at Schoolhouse Pond today. Medium-sized groups have started gathering at the pond in recent days, so I decided to see what might turn up over an afternoon. Numbers probably never exceeded 300 total gulls on the pond at once, but the turnover and number of flyovers was great enough to keep things interesting. The highlight was a 3rd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. The bird was preening on the water for about 20 minutes with a small group of Herring Gulls, and I was able to get pictures of the bird at rest and in flight. Also of interest were two somewhat late Laughing Gulls, and three flyover Great Black-backed Gulls. Totals for the afternoon were:
297 Ring-billed Gulls
167 Herring Gulls
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
2 Laughing Gulls
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
At times there were large numbers of flyover gulls. The Lesser Black-backed Gull was my first of the season at Schoolhouse Pond. Other birds present included one immature Bald Eagle (which scared much of the initial flock off), 3 Double-crested Cormorants, 8 Northern Shovelers, 9 Gadwall, 2 Eastern Bluebirds, and 14 Wilson's Snipe. The snipe have been present at the rear of the pond in impressive numbers in recent weeks, sometimes exceeding 20 or 30 birds on some mornings. They like to forage on the mudflats or hunker down at the base of the vegetation or small bush at the rear of the pond.
Fred Shaffer
<GlaucousGull...>
Crofton, Anne Arundel
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