Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 17:12:57 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Greg Miller Subject: Little Gull (2/27-YES!) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Howdy All! Thank you Danny for finding this great bird! And thank you Harvey Mudd (the sharp eyes who picked out the gull this afternoon after becoming bleary-eyed after umteen hours of searching...). The adult LITTLE GULL was seen today from 3:30pm to 4:20pm in overcast/light rain. The bird was with a flock of maybe 200 Bonaparte's Gulls (which were never all in the air at one time--max maybe 70-80 birds). The flock feeds near the turbulent outflow from the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant, visible only from the nature trail cliff edge. Best viewing is near the sign that says DO NOT ENTER. The main flock of birds is not visible from the Visitor Center Overlook. A scope is advisable (although not necessary for you veterans--the bird's slate-gray underwing is easily visible at a great distance when in banks or turns for a ventral view. But since the viewing is from pretty high, often only the back of the bird is visible. Look for the uniformly pale gray back *without* the white primaries evident in the Bonaparte's Gulls. Hope the bird sticks around for a while for others to view! George Jett and I stopped at Victoria's Station yesterday (2/26) and were unsuccessful in finding the Greater White-fronted Goose (only 3 Canadas). This was insult to injury after a meager day at Conowingo with temps 30 degrees below what was predicted. We were delighted however, by finding the Brown-headed Nuthatch at the end of Lloyd Bowen Rd (in the loblollies near the swamp by the mustard yellow house). Also present on the ground there were two beautiful Fox Sparrows. At the Thomas Johnson Bridge we easily found one of the Peregrine Falcons. From the Chesapeake Bay Laboratory in Solomons looking up the Calvert coast toward Drum Pt were able to pick out a few Redheads mixed in a large raft of scaup, goldeneye, and Buffleheads. Greg Miller Hollywood, MD __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================