St. Mary's County, MD Kelp Gull (YES!) Update 4/19/99
Jane Kostenko (jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us)
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 11:03:30 -0400
(Pardon the double post. I somehow had my options changed and sent the
previous message in HTML. Apologies--JFK)
I'm just back from the Sea Breeze Restaurant in St. Mary's County, MD,
where the Kelp Gull was putting on quite a show, after having not been seen
since Sunday, April 11.
The restaurant manager had called me today, April 19, at 8:45 a.m. to
say the gull had been at the pier since around 8 a.m., and he was going to
put out shrimp and oysters for it.
I arrived at 9:13 and the Kelp Gull was busy chasing Common Terns (easy
pickings) from piling to piling. When it saw me, it flew over to its
favorite piling (after chasing off a Herring Gull) and posed, with two Great
Black-backs in the background. When that failed to inspire me to produce any
raw shrimp, it gave a squawk, flew over my head, landed in the water, chased
more Herring Gulls, and settled in the water again.
It came back to its piling (not another human was around, so I was
carrying on quite a conversation with it) and gave me a look that clearly
said, "Hello!? I'm rare, I'm gorgeous, and I'm here, and you're leaving?!"
when I got in my car and left at 9:30.
So, fine; I've pretty much decided I need to give up my low-paying
county government job and take on the lucrative bathroom-cleaning janitorial
position that the Sea Breeze has been trying to fill for months. Think of
the mileage I'll save myself on trips to see the bird! Plus, I won't have to
explain these odd mid-morning "lunch breaks" I've been taking!
Jane Kostenko
jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us
California, MD
301-475-4513 (work)
301-862-4623 (home)