Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 18:46:38 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Fred Shaffer Subject: 2nd winter Thayer's Gull I decided to go down to the Charles County landfill after finishing up a big assignment at work, and see what I could turn up. I was there from about 2:45 until 4:00 pm. I've learned that over-confidence regarding gulls can lead to humbling experiences, but after taking detailed notes on this bird and consulting several standard guides, Kaufman's Advanced Birding, and my gull books (Grant's book & the new book by Olsen & Larson), I feel pretty comfortable posting about this darked-eyed gull, a probable 2nd winter Thayer's Gull. My notes from the field included: White, rounded head, mostly white throat and below (washed with light tan). Dark eyes. These seemed especially pronounced against the mostly white face and rounded head. The impression was of a black dot on the white face. The size and structure were consistent with Thayers/Iceland gulls. All of the 2nd year Herring Gulls I saw had noticeable light eyes. Size was smaller then the surrounding Herring Gulls, perhaps made more noticable by the rounder head and daintier bill. The bill was black on the tip (for about the first third of the bill), then becoming more difuse to a paler base. Extremely pale bird overall. Coverts very light tan, flecked with white. Comparable to a first winter Iceland Gull. Tertials were also light brown, a shade darker then the coverts, but much lighter then the primaries. Primaries were a medium brown with light edges. However, the bird did have a noticeable grey mantle, typical of 2nd year gull. The legs were pink. Also of interest: A 2nd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull I was unable to locate the Glaucous Gull from previous weeks. And, I heard a commotion at one point and looked up to see a 2nd winter Great Black-backed Gull with what I assumed was a mouse, of course closely followed by a horde of noisy gulls. However, the gull dropped its meal, which fell part what to the ground before taking wing and flying off, unharmed. It was a Starling! The gulls dispersed pretty quickly however, probably prompted by the passes by an immature Eagle and a displaying Red-tailed Hawk. I called it quits a little before four, when only one Ring-billed Gull was present. By the time I had my gear packed up, even this gull was gone. Fred Shaffer Patuxent MOS Glaucousgull1611@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 ======================================================================= =========================================================================