[MDOsprey] St. Mary's County, MD, Kelp Gull (YES) Update 7/1/99
Jane Kostenko (jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us)
Thu, 1 Jul 1999 14:19:09 -0400
I've just been to see the Kelp Gull at the piers behind the Sea Breeze
in Sandgates, Maryland, on Thursday, July 1, 1999, from 1:30 and 1:50 p.m.
(Yippee! I have my July sighting out of the way now!)
The Kelp Gull was laboring under the opressive humidity and the heat,
and had its mouth open much of the time I was there. The gull and I occupied
our respective spaces and panted slightly, but I had ample time to study the
nearly non-existent white trailing edge on the wings, now worn almost
completely away. In today's overcast light, the mantle had a more brownish
look than usual, and the Kelpster seems to have made peace with at least one
Great Black-backed Gull, which perched on an adjacent piling, until flying
off (it was panting, too).
Visiting birders from Ohio also studied the Kelp Gull on Wednesday, June
30, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. (after they had successfully driven overnight to
arrive at dawn to see the Little Egret at Bombay Hook!)
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.