When the previous Thick-billed Murre showed up at Shanty Town on the south side of the Route 50 bridge a couple of years ago, it seemed to favor going into the marina at Shanty Town as a way to protect itself from attack by the gulls in the area. When the bird would venture out into the bay to feed, it would be attacked repeatedly by the gulls in the bay. Each time it would surface, a gull would dive on it and it would flee by diving beneath the bay's waters. Ocassionally it would fly from one place to another, but usually it would have a gull on its six. After a time it would return to the relative safety of the marina's docks and canals. If the bird is not observed in the open waters of the bay, it might be wise to search for the bird inside of the protected waters of the various marinas in close proximity to this part of the bay. Seems to me that this is close to the time of year that the previous bird showed up in Shanty Town.

 Edward Boyd
Westminster, MD 




________________________________
From: Ross Geredien <>
To: 
Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 2:27:22 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Possible Thick-billed Murre at OC Skimmer Island

Dave Brinker just called in with a description of an alcid that most closely matched that of a THICK-BILLED MURRE.  He says he has close-up photos, as he was able to get pretty close using a boat, however, he has no way of emailing them to us from the field.  His description was that of an alcid with dark back and white underside, too big for Dovekie, bill too thin and straight for Razorbill.  No white on the cheek.  
He said the bird is easily viewed with a scope from the 4th Street Flats in Ocean City. The bird was swimming between 4th Street and Skimmer Island.
It would be good to get additional documentation if anyone goes down there.
Ross GeredienAnnapolis/Edgewater