June

Sibley is not as correct as you might wish.  Today along Mt. Victoria Rd, in 
lower Chares Co.  I had a handful of Bonaparte's Gull in a flock of about 
700 Ring-billed.   On just a quick look your birds look like Bonnies.    On 
March 18 I had a couple Bonnies with Ring-billed, Herring, and Great 
Black-backed Gulls on Poplar Island.  Hardly rare, but the time of year and 
the weather has a lot to do with what birds are where.

Regards.

George

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "June Tveekrem" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, April 02, 2005 8:46 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Gull ID help


> Today around 4:00 pm I saw a flock of gulls at Centennial Lake.  About 
> half of them were Ring-billed, and the others were small gulls with black 
> or black-and-white heads.  I thought maybe Bonaparte's, but Sibley says 
> "Bonaparte's rarely mixes with larger species, but Black-headed often 
> consorts with Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls."
>
> I have posted 10 photos at this URL:
> http://tinyurl.com/5fup4
>
> Unfortunately, the photos are poor.  Partly this was due to shooting in 
> the rain, and partly because just as I was getting closer to the gulls for 
> some better pictures, a group of people came along and scared away the 
> birds.  I got a few photos of the gulls in flight while they circled, then 
> they were gone.
>
> I'm quite curious to know what I saw, so I hope ID is possible from the 
> pictures.  By the way, these photos were cropped only; no effort was made 
> to improve them by photo editing.
>
> -- 
> June Tveekrem
> Columbia, Howard Co, MD
> tweekiebird AT toadmail DOT com
>