St. Mary's County, MD, Kelp Gull (NO) Update 3/31/99
Jane Kostenko (jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us)
Wed, 31 Mar 1999 06:28:53 -0500
A call from the Voice of the Naturalist's Jane Hill prompted me to
compose one last (sad sigh) message about the St. Mary's County, MD, Kelp
Gull, which we've not seen since Sunday, March 21. It spent the morning and
early afternoon delighting some very lucky birders, then quietly snuck off
(as has been its way) in the mid- to late-afternoon, never to return (that
we know of).
Birders were at the Sea Breeze every day last week, and the staff at the
restaurant are very interested in re-finding it, so they have my work and
home numbers and will surely call if anything remotely suspicious flies in.
The face of the river at the Sea Breeze is definitely changing with the
new season (far fewer gulls and ducks, some terns flying by), so perhaps
this is truly the last of the sightings here until fall/winter. In that
case--someone needs to find this bird out there! You'll recognize it
instantly by the way it cocks its head when you wave jumbo shrimp in the
air. Oh, and it some times goes by the name, "Shrimpy"...
Jane Kostenko
jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us
California, Maryland
Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why they call it the PRESENT.