Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 00:01:04 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Phil Davis Subject: Washington County Great Black-backed Gull Report Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Greater Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) in Washington County Sandy Hook, MD (Bird #1) Pleasantville, MD (Birds #2 and #3) March 7, 2000 Phil Davis On March 7th I was in Washington County working on my Washington County=20 List when I found Great Black-backed Gulls in the town of Sandy Hook, MD=20 and in the Potomac River at Pleasantville, MD near C&O Canal Lock 34. Bird #1: Approximately 1 pm: I had just entered the county via MD Route=20 340 and turned down Keep Tryst Road, downhill, toward the town of Sandy=20 Hook. I had just entered the town, which sits on the edge of the Potomac=20 River, when I saw a large gull flying overhead. The bird was probably 30=20 feet high and maybe 50 feet in front of me. I saw it for maybe 10 seconds.= =20 The sun was either behind me or to my left. The sighting was unaided by=20 optics (except for my eye glasses!). I noticed that it had quite a bit of dark on the underwing, but when it=20 turned to expose the upper wing and mantle to me, I could see that it was=20 all dark on those surfaces. The dark upper surface was noticeably darker=20 that that of a Herring Gull. The underside of the body was white. As I=20 write this I don't recall noting the bill or leg color of this bird during= =20 this brief observation. I was not expecting to find any gull species, at=20 this point, however, I immediately said to myself =93Great Black-backed= Gull=94=20 and mentally made a mental note that this was probably a =93county bird=94= for=20 me. (It did not occur to me at that time that this could be a county=20 record nor did I remember that this would be a MD/DC Records Committee=20 reviewable species). No vocalizations were heard. Bird #2 (adult): Approximately 1:15 pm. I parked in the lot at Lock 34=20 and walked the C&O path along the Potomac River, upriver, to look for=20 waterfowl. The water here runs at a medium speed, slower than a little=20 further down river, but not real slow (at least in the middle of the=20 river). A number of American Black Ducks and Mallards were seen on the=20 river around the rocks at this point on the river. After walking about 1/8= =20 mile and scanning the river a few times with my binoculars, I sighted a=20 large adult dark-backed gull sitting on a rock. I immediately tried to=20 make out the leg color, on the off chance that it might be a Lesser=20 Black-backed. With the boom in sightings in Maryland of Lesser=20 Black-backs, it occurred to me that this species would be a great find for= =20 Washington County. Due to the distance and viewing conditions, I could not= =20 immediately determine the leg color, although I thought there was a=20 possibility they could be light. The bird was just sitting -- no feeding=20 or other notable behavior. I moved closer upriver, maybe another 1/8 mile--for a better look. I=20 observed the bird with a Swarovski ST80HD scope with a 20-60x-zoom=20 eyepiece. I don't recall what power I used, but I probably used the entire= =20 range (from 20x to 60x). The distance to the bird was probably about 1/2=20 mile. The sun was basically behind me. The sky was clear and sunny. At this point I saw that the legs were definitely light pink and I=20 immediately said to myself =93Great Black-backed=94. I thought this was=20 fortuitous since the previous sighting (Bird #1) was brief, unaided, and=20 from a moving car. Again, the mantle on this bird was dark, not light gray= =20 like a Herring Gull. The bill was yellow and =93heavy=94. I could see a=20 smudge of contrasting different color on the tip of the bill but did not=20 see a ring -- such as on a Ring-billed Gull. I don't recall actually=20 determining the color of the smudge due to this distance. I just could=20 tell that there was something of a different color there. The head was=20 very white and unstreaked. I did not see the underwings of this sitting=20 bird. After scanning the river for more waterfowl (Common Mergansers were= =20 present), I returned to look at the rock, but the bird was gone. I did not= =20 see it fly off. No vocalizations were heard. Bird #3 (adult): To the right of bird #2 (several scope fields of=20 view) was another large dark-backed gull. It was not in a favorable=20 posture -- I think it=92s back was to me -- therefore, once I =93made it= out=94=20 to be a Greater Black-backed Gull, to my satisfaction, I did not spend any= =20 more time on it. I don't remember any further details on this bird. When=20 Bird #2 flew off, apparently this bird did also. Additional Comments: It is certainly possible that one of the birds on the river may have been=20 the bird I saw flying over Sandy Hook, therefore, I suggest this sighting=20 be indicated as two birds, although only the description of =93Bird #2=94,= as=20 described above, provides enough detail to possibly substantiate a record. After publishing a report of my day=92s birding on the local e-mail=20 listserver, MD_Osprey, I was reminded that this would be a county record=20 and is a reviewable sighting for the MD/DC Records Committee (double=20 duh!). These notes, to this point, were written on the evening of March 8,= =20 2000 (the next day) from memory. No field guides were consulted. Elimination of other species (Bird #2): I immediately tagged this as a=20 =93large gull=94 (Herring or Great-blacked Back). Even though there were no= =20 other gulls or birds close to it. It struck me as an obviously large gull= =20 -- not small like a Ring-billed. The dark color of the mantle took me=20 immediately to Greater Black-backed and eliminated Herring. While I was=20 studying the bird, I mentally asked myself =93out loud=94 what else could= this=20 possibly be if it wasn't a Great Blacked-back. The light pink legs=20 eliminated Lesser Black-backed. I asked myself if could possibly be a=20 California (even though it had pink legs, duh!) and I eliminated this=20 option due to the large sloped shape of the head -- not rounded, the bill=20 was too large and bulky, and the large size of the bird. I did not note=20 the eye color -- which I may not have been able to determine anyway due to= =20 the distance. The pink legs can eliminate kelp Gull. Slaty-backed can be= =20 eliminated by the color of the legs -- they were light pink, not =93bubble= =20 gum=94 pink and by the lack of head streaking (assuming a Slaty-backed would= =20 still be in basic plumage). Western Gull =85 ????. =85 maybe by leg color= --=20 they were too dull for a Western (?). European or Asian subspecies of=20 Herring Gull =85 ???? Observer Experience: Experience with this species includes general east=20 coast gull viewing and gull watching in other parts of the county. Years of= =20 birding experience--about 13. Other observers: None. Status: This appears to be the first report of the species in Washington=20 County. Phil Davis 2549 Vale Court Davidsonville, MD 21035 301-2610184 The MD/DC Records Committee has my permission to use this report posted to= =20 MD_Osprey. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Phil Davis Davidsonville, Maryland USA mailto:PDavis@ix.netcom.com =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================