Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 11:16:16 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Ralph Wall Subject: Kelp Gull, also Pt.Lookout MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Went to Sandgates on Sunday, Nov 5, with a visiting California birder to see the Kelp Gull. It appeared on the pilings at the Sea Breeze Restaurant at 9:00 AM looking in good shape, although as Paul O'Brien noted in his recent posting, it has not completed its molting cycle. I also thought it's grey-green legs were not as intense as the "split pea soup" coloration they displayed when the gull was first discovered almost two years ago. Is the Md. bird committee near a conclusion on its status? Due to heavy winds, both the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River at Pt. Lookout were white-capped. There were a few Common Loons, six Buffleheads, one Black Scoter (another 20 scoters sp. in flight), twenty Tundra Swans in flight, a few Sanderlings, one immature Brant, and a lone Purple Sandpiper near the point, on the bayside breakwater jetty. A number of sulphur butterflies (sp?) were in the grassy areas near the point. Out of the wind, drives along Cornfield Harbor Road and St. Jerome's Neck Road produced a good variety of land birds usual for this time of the year. Ralph Wall Great Falls, Va. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================