Hi Dave: Dave Mozurkewich wrote: > Has anyone else seen the white juvenal Laughing Gull hanging around > Maryland's southern eastern shore? > > Its tail band and primaries are a warm brown, which I will describe as the > color of a coffee stain. Its folded primaries are fairly dark but I saw > no hint of black pigment. The underparts and back are white. The upper > wing coverts are a warm brown, similar to the tail band, but light enough > to pass for white with a quick look. > > The bird had pink legs and a pink bill. It gave me the impression of a > dark (right) eye, but I was not close enough to be sure I could see the > iris. I did not look at its left eye. > > The bird was loafing with a large flock of regular Laughing Gulls at the > E.A. Vaughn WMA pond, late afternoon, Friday, August 13, 1999. I am > basing the identification on the bird's size and bill shape which match > the Laughing Gulls in the flock and its age on the presence of a tail > band. > > Quite a pretty bird. Too bad it wasn't a quick look at a distant fly-by; > no telling what I would have called it. > Just wondered how good your imagination was!! Leslie Fisher > > Dave > > David Mozurkewich > Seabrook, MD USA > dm@fornax.usno.navy.mil