BLACK-TAILED GULL 2/28 7:30am (yes)

Gregory B Miller (gregorym@erols.com)
Sun, 28 Feb 1999 22:21:59 -0500


Howdy All!

I found 2 birders on the Northwest side of island #4 of the CBBT this
morning (2/28) at 7:35am who were watching the BLACK-TAILED GULL on the
rocks below.  I got just 5 minutes of viewing time before the bird took
flight and headed North along the Eastern side of the bridge and out of
sight.  I stayed until 10:15am, chummed an entire bag of pretzels and
some bread, and had no other gulls of note.  No one else had seen it
since the 7:30 timeframe.

Second-hand info:  I heard that the bird was seen yesterday (2/27)
morning early, again around 11:00am, and came in to roost, all on Island
#3.  The Black-headed Gull was seen yesterday, but not this morning.

Other birds there this morning included large rafts of Surf Scoters, a
couple White-winged Scoters, Gannets, 21 Great Cormorants (on #4),
Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones.

I made the trek down to Virginia Beach Friday night and took the Brian
Patteson pelagic on Saturday.  Of particular note were the incredible
numbers of Razorbills and Puffins (VA state record by far with ~60). 
Additionally, we had 2 Great Skuas, one seen very well by all.  Decent
gulls included a Lesser Black-backed Gull and several Black-legged
Kittiwakes.
-- 
Greg Miller
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Home-	gregorym@erols.com
Work-	gregory.b.miller@bge.com
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