Saturday afternoon, while sharing the Ocean City Inlet viewing
platform with Brad Lanning and Tom Harten, Brad called our attention to an
unusual-looking gull amongst the 50 or so gulls that were basking in the
warm sun of the perfect late-afternoon lighting on the inlet parking lot.
The unusual bird was the only one of its size, and for calibration purposes
had an adult Herring gull standing at one side and an adult Ring-billed Gull
on the other side.  Besides size, the heavy streaking on head and back of
neck, and what appeared to be a hooked bill had been what caught Brad's
attention.  The bird was clearly smaller than the Herring Gulls, but much
larger than the Ring-billed Gulls; had pink legs, yellow bill and bright red
spot on lower mandible. Other markings, except for the streaked head and
neck, were quite similar to those of the Herring Gull adults. Later, with a
little help from reference books retrieved from the car, we concluded that
we had been staring at an adult Thayer's Gull.  The excessively long and
down-curved upper mandible would suggest that this may have been a quite old
bird, or else a bird that somehow had not been eating in a way that would
wear that mandible down to normal length.
	Our main viewing target from the platform was a flock of eider
bouncing near the breaking waves well to the east of the jetty.  Both Common
and King Eider could be resolved in the flock of 14 or more birds, including
one Common Eider male in close-to full breeding plumange.
	Brad mentioned having seen an Iceland Gull on the parking lot
earlier in the day.  The next morning I (along with Talbot County Bird Club
members) had the fun of viewing that bird also, over on the channel island
as seen from 4th Street.

Les Roslund
Easton, MD