Hi Everyone,

I got over to Sandy Point St. Pk. today (10:30-12:30) 
to look for the Brant that have been there. I found 
1 Brant in with about 22-25 Canada Geese feeding on 
the lawn area near the pavilion. Shortly after I got
there, a birder from Norway (forgotten his name) joined
me and we birded together for the rest of the time while
I was there.  

We also looked for the shorebirds that have been there, 
but found none. There wasn't too much out on the bay, 
but, we did find a few birds. Lots of gulls on the beach,
but, only the "regular 4" were present.

Probably the coolest thing we viewed was watching a Great 
black-backed Gull eat a 12-14" dead Menhaden at the surf line! Originally, a Ring-billed Gull was eating it, but, the Great
black-backed came in and "took over". The larger gull continued
to peck and shake the fish until it was able to eat almost all 
of it.  All this time the Ring-billed was patiently waiting 
"its turn" to feed.  Occasionally, the RBGU would get a tiny 
piece that flung off. -(It sort of reminded me of a kill site 
out in the African plains where lions are feeding and a Jackal 
gets a piece now and then). We watched the Great blk-back eat
the WHOLE tail section, and, eventually, it just left the head. 
At that point, the RBGU was able to feed some.

Turkey Vulture 5
Black Vulture 3 
Common Loon 1
DC Cormorant 8
Canada Goose ~25
Brant 1
Bufflehead 5
Laughing Gull ~35
Ring-billed Gull ~50
Herring Gull ~75
Great black-backed Gull ~200
Forster's Tern 6

I then left and went down to Schoolhouse Pond to look for the 
Franklin's Gull.  When I arrived at 1:45pm there were about 
150 gulls on the pond.  All of them were Laughing.  Then, at 
2:10, all of the gulls took off. Shortly thereafter Diane Ford 
showed up, so, we watched the other birds that were there for
awhile.  It was a nice day to be out there!

Peter Osenton
Jessup, Md.