Spent the day yesterday (Feb 27) helping my father-in-law with spring
cleaning, and took my binoculars with me when we made a trip to the PG Co
landfill (White House Rd).  For a bird lover, it was a surreal mix of
disgust and euphoric excitement; a bewildering number of gulls, crows,
starlings and vultures bombarded my senses.  I have been there many times
over the years, but this was the most number of birds I’ve seen there;
probably over 5,000 (all species).  Most of them were congregated at the
top of the cell where they are currently depositing waste.  Despite the
malodor and visual barrage of humanity’s solid waste, it was very exciting
to see and hear so many birds.  They literally drowned out the traffic and
a huge bulldozer that continually worked the pile of rubbish, pushing it
into a “neat” pile.  The birds burst into excitement with each load of
trash that was dumped.  Although it seemed statistically improbable,
somehow I managed to unload our truck without getting hit by a load of
bird-wash.

After we unloaded we pulled away and I got off the path enough to have a
look at birds, sort of at the edge of the chaos.  I explained to my father-
in-law how to look for a Glaucous or Iceland gull, but there were so many
birds and they were so busy, their movement made it difficult to focus on
any one bird for more than a few seconds.  Sitting there, I was a bit
nervous about the proximity to big trucks and other traffic that passed
by, and it occurred to me that if I saw one it would be very difficult to
point it out.  After about a minute, I asked if he saw any birds without
black wingtips yet, and he said “No”, so I decided to leave.  I hated to
go, but as we left we had to wait for another vehicle to pass, and
standing there directly in front of us at about 8-10 feet was a juvenile
Glaucous gull!  We both realized it immediately and were elated.  I don’t
know how long it had been standing there, but after about 15 seconds it
took flight and disappeared in the chaos.  No binoculars were needed, and
it was a very beautiful bird.  I think it may be a second-winter bird; it
was very white with hardly any visible brown patterning.

Jeff Shenot
Croom, MD