Hello!  On a windy Saturday last weekend at OC Inlet I 
snapped these pics of a couple birds that are proving 
difficult to identify:

    http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/xfer/OCInlet/

The first 4 pics are of what I believe may be a female Black 
Scoter (juvenile?), but there appears to be an abnormality 
with the bill (I don't *think* it's something the bird had 
stuck in its bill---it didn't change appearance in about 5 
mins of observing; the bird was floating separate from a 
small group of Surf Scoters, and dove only occasionally).

The second set of pics are of a young pale gull -- maybe 
1st/2nd winter Glaucous or a hybrid?

Any help appreciated!

Here's our report from ~1 hr of observing in the late 
afternoon:

Report Details
Location name: Ocean City Inlet
Observation date: 3/4/06
Duration: 1 hour(s) 0 minute(s)
# of people in birding party: 3
Are you reporting all the species you identified? Yes
Total # of species: 15
Observation type: Stationary Count
Start time: 4:00 PM
Distance covered: N/A
Area covered: N/A
Weather had a negative effect on my ability to collect 
birding information: No

Checklist diary notes:
Our first visit to Ocean City, MD. Still very windy. The 
shorebirds were seen at the end of a rocky jetty at the 
inlet (perpendicular to the boardwalk). The loons and 
scoters were seen off that jetty as well. Gull numbers are 
conservative estimates.



Species Details
Species Name Number Reported
Surf Scoter 100
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
American Oystercatcher 1
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 5
Purple Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 20
Herring Gull 20
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 5
European Starling 1
House Sparrow 1


Cheers,

D

-- 
Derek C. Richardson, College Park, PG County, MD
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/Archives/Photos/birds.html