Paul O. is right - Rob, Ottavio & I figured that even though Ivory Gull
is overdue to reoccur in DC - the last one was in 1845 (yes, 1845!) and
no one is even sure if the bird was ever alive in DC (a dead bird was
bought at a market) - our chances were much better to see this species
if we drove out of the magic circle (DC Beltway) and headed to Cape May.
 Palms were sweating as we headed into foreign territory, but we were
not disappointed - the first bird that Ottavio saw as we pulled into the
marina was the Ivory Gull, actively flying over the docks, occasionally
dipping to the surface to feed.  A life bird for Rob and only the 2nd
for me & Ottavio.  And as Paul O. noted, our birding luck would wane
after that, at least until we got to the Lighthouse Pond, found Ron
Gutberlet and crew, and were then shown a nice, sub-adult male Eurasian
Wigeon (thanks Ron).  And what was lacking in rare birds was made up in
the socializing that birding brings - seeing Paul, Barbara & Michael O.
(Louise was out of town :-( , watching Peter Ostenton from across the
marina (sorry we didn't get to talk to you, Peter), catching up with
Tony Leukering, and then running into Ron, Jennifer Elmer, her dad, and
Lance.  True, we missed gary Allport's Glaucous Gull at the Tidal Basin,
but given the choice...

Good birding,
Paul Pisano
Arlington, VA