Gull bonanza at Patuxent WR

Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Sun, 3 Jan 1999 08:09:43 -0500


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From:           	owner-mdosprey@ARI.Net
Date sent:      	Sat, 2 Jan 1999 19:37:23 -0500 (EST)
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Subject:        	BOUNCE mdosprey@ARI.Net:    Non-member submission from [Gail Mackiernan <gail@mdsg.umd.edu>]   

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 19:37:47 -0500
To: mdosprey@ari.net
From: Gail Mackiernan <gail@mdsg.umd.edu>
Subject: Gull bonanza at Patuxent WR

Hi all!

There were a lot of gulls, and birders too, at the Patuxent Wildlife
Ctr's Vistor's Center today. We arrived around noon, there were probably
about 2000 gulls on the mostly frozen lake. Folks already there had picked
out a first winter Glaucous and a first-winter Iceland so we quickly set
up our scopes. We scanned and soon saw them -- until we all realized we
were looking at different birds! A more careful count by everyone tallied
-- three Glaucous and two Iceland gulls, all apparent first winter, as
well as two adult Lesser Blackbacked Gulls. Wow!!

Since an adult Iceland and a probable third-year Iceland have also been
seen in the vicinity within the last week, the number of white-winged
gulls around the Sandy Hill Landfill in Glenn Dale, MD. is impressive.

After the inevitable Bald Eagle came along at about 1:00 and scared many
of the gulls away, we did the rounds of other local spots, including the
pond at Hanover Pky and Greenbelt Lake, and although both had far 
numbers
of Herring and Ringbilled Gulls, no unusual species were located. There
still were gulls on the landfill, but they are hard to observe except in
flight due to the terrain.

Anyway, a good time was had by all!

Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
gail@umdd.umd.edu




===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net