Kelp Gull and Pt. Lookout Afterwards
Dendroica@aol.com
Thu, 18 Feb 1999 21:25:47 EST
I viewed the Kelp Gull today from about 11:15 AM to 1:00 PM and made the
following nonscientific observations:
I was immediately struck by the intensity of the black on its mantle.
Unfortunately, no Greater Black-backs were there for comparison.
Sage green is how I would describe the leg color.
It spent a great deal of time preening, perhaps taking advantage of the
falling rain?
It seemed to rule the roost, chasing the Ring-billed Gulls and the two
immature Herring Gulls present off whatever piling it chose to perch on.
The Seabreeze Restaurant put some jumbo shrimp and oysters atop a piling for
its consumption. Interestingly, none of the other gulls around attempted to
get any of this fare.
My thanks to Jane Kostenko for keeping us posted and to all the MDOspreyers
who have provided ID info I found invaluable in my personal identification of
the bird.
I also briefly checked out Pt. Lookout where I sighted several rafts of
Oldsquaw, Goldeneye and Bufflehead, and at least 6 Common Loons, but no
Scoters. Visibility wasn't the greatest. Cardinals, Yellow-rumped Warblers,
Robins and Eastern Bluebirds are wintering there in good numbers.
Ralph Wall
Great Falls, Va.