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Subject:

Kelp Gull, St. Mary's County, Maryland--NOT

From:

Jane Kostenko

Reply-To:

Jane Kostenko

Date:

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 14:03:41 -0500

    The St. Mary's County, Maryland, Kelp Gull has not been reported in one year; the last reported sighting (that we know of) was from March 20, 2005, made by Kyle Rambo, a local birder who re-found the gull one year after Patty Craig initially located the bird at the Sea Breeze Crabhouse in Sandgates, MD, during the winter of 1998. If anyone has a more recent sighting, please email directly to the transcriber. Remaining staff at the Sea Breeze concur that their last sighting was also around one year ago.
    Though fewer in number of the past year, birders have continued to look for the gull at its usual location throughout the intervening year. Tyler Bell and I have made about 10 visits this year alone, in the hope that we would re-find it.
    Though there is no definitive proof that the Kelp Gull has died or moved on, its remarkable site fidelity (6+ years) would make a relocation now seem unusual, if not unlikely. Since the life span of KEGU isn't narrowly known, we can't be sure old age had anything to do with its disappearance, but ol' Shrimpy was a full adult when Patty first found it, and that was 7 years ago. The math isn't promising...
    If you find yourself in the Sandgates, Maryland, area, please stop in and look--maybe you'll be the one to re-find Shrimpy or an odd looking hybrid...

Jane Kostenko

California, MD