Re: Another Iceland Gull in Greenbelt, MD
GAIL@UMDD.UMD.EDU
Sat, 02 Jan 99 09:06:33 EST
Recall that last Saturday (Dec. 26), we had two Iceland Gulls at Lake
Redington (in front of the Patuxent Wildlife Center's Vistor's Center). One
was a first-winter, with an all-dark bill, dark eye, and so forth, and the
other a full adult as best we could see (it was sitting down on the ice).
It had an all-grey mantle, white flight feathers with pale grey "shadow"
markings such are seen in Kumlien's Iceland Gulls, and streaked head with a
yellow bill. The Beaver Dam bird (if a second-winter) would be the third
Iceland Gull in a 3-4 mile radius, at least, and that's assuming Phil's bird
was the same one as we saw at Pax.
Add to that a first winter Glaucous Gull (large or larger than Herrings, big
pink bill with dark tip) which a number of folks have seen at Lake Redington,
and four LBB Gulls seen there on Dec. 28, and it appears that the PWRC and
environs is *the* local place for gulls this season so far.
Does anyone have access to the local landfill (which would seem to be the
local gull attractant?) Would be interesting to get some sort of complete
count, since at any one time far more gulls are over the landfill than on
the ponds.
Gail Mackiernan
gail@umdd.umd.edu