I didn't see this on MDOsprey. Hope it's true!

Tyler Bell

California, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: <> 
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 8:38 AM
To: 
Subject: [de-birds] Probable Ross's Gull, Lapidum, MD

Hello DE-BIRDers -

Yesterday in the late morning I saw what I now believe was an adult
Ross's
Gull at Lapidum, MD.  Here's what I saw:

Small gull, comparable in size to the Bonaparte's it was with.

Uniform medium gray underwing color (darker than any of the Bonaparte's
but
obviously much lighter than the underwing color of the Little Gulls).

Uniform light gray upperwing and back  No white leading edge on the
wings as
with Bonaparte's.

White rump with longish, wedge-shaped tail (seen clearly when the bird
banked with the dark opposite shore as a background).

Small bill.

White head with dark spot behind eye.

Comparing to the Sibley guide, these fit very well only with Ross's.
However, I did not notice any white trailing edges on the wings or
pinkish
color on the underparts.

The bird was seen only in flight and only in the scope at a considerable
distance under moderate viewing conditions.  The bird was foraging, not
just
flying by.

At the time I was searching through a fairly large Bonaparte's flock for
Little (I saw at least a couple) and Black-headed (I saw none) Gulls
that had been previously reported there.  When I saw it I had no idea
what this bird was, and I was so focused on my target birds that I
didn't even look in my field guide until late last night (hence the late
posting).

I have no prior experience with this species, but the distinctive field
marks noted seem pretty convincing.

Lapidum, MD is the first point of road access on the SW side of the
Susquehanna River upstream from the I-95 bridge (opposite Port Deposit).
See DeLorme p. 77, B/C 4.

Good birding!

Andy Urquhart
Newark, DE