Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 03:11:27 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Frank Boyle Subject: Flying Vermin, Over Woodbridge In-Reply-To: <17f.1f567f7c.2c716183@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Like Rick, I was swimming in (a much larger) pool in Woodbridge, VA after cutting the Mother-In-Law's "lawn from hell". Being close to the Occoquon (sp?) River, and near dusk, I looked up to also see about 20 Laughing Gulls hawking insects. They were as adept as the Chimney Swifts that were also present in large numbers. Sibley states: "...the only way you can reliably see Laughing Gulls hawking insects is from the safety of a pool, whilst floating on your back and contemplating the fate of the world". That silly ol' Sibley!! He's such a twitcher!!! ****************************** Frank Boyle Laurel, MD ravenfrank@earthlink.net ****************************** -----Original Message----- From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM] On Behalf Of Rick Sussman Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 6:54 PM To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Lazy migrants, over Ashton Hi all, Though not as exciting as Hans Holbrooks' Saturday afternoon, I spent Sunday afternoon in the pool, with a drink in hand, and a vinyl tube around my middle. Binoculars were hanging poolside should anything other than vultures pass overhead. Mid-afternoon an Osprey soared over, very high, and shortly it was followed by 4 Laughing Gulls, moving from east to west, probably following the Patuxent River, as they seem to do this time of year. They were mostly in alternate plumage, but changing to basic, with molting wing feathers and black heads. One would occasionally drop a wing and "hawk" for insects, which is neat to watch. I'm thinking of a way to turn this into a national event, ala The Big Sit. Hmmm, the Big Soak, the Big Dunk, the Big Swim? My kind of lazy summer birding... Rick Sussman Ashton,MD warblerick@aol.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================