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Subject:

Kayaking with Laughing Gulls (& a Least Bittern)

From:

Fred Shaffer

Reply-To:

Fred Shaffer

Date:

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:05:13 -0400

I went kayaking after work today, putting in at the MD 4 bridge over the Patuxent River.  I went down river towards Mount Calvert.  The river was quiet, but there were lots of Osprey, a few Bald Eagles, many Red-winged Blackbirds and a few Greater Yellowlegs.  Several Common Yellowthroats sang from the adjacent marshes.  A constant noisy group of Laughing Gulls was always overhead, with most of the birds heading towards Jug Bay.  The clamor of the gulls got more and more intense the closer I got to Mount Calvert and when I finally rounded the bend in the river (near Mt. Calvert) I came upon several hundred Laughing Gulls on the mudflats, river, and in flight. I didn't try to count the group, but there could have been upwards of a thousand Laughing Gulls in a fairly small area of mudflats.   I had seen the flocks of gulls here before from Mount Calvert, but had never kayaked right into the middle of the group before.  I got great views and photos of birds at rest and in flight.  The amount of noise they were making was incredible.  The gulls were not fazed by my being there and I actually kayaked right up to the edge of the mudflat where the gulls were and was literally surrounded by the noisy gulls.  A smaller number of 1st year Ring-billed Gulls were also present.  Despite searching the group pretty thoroughly, I could find no unusual gulls (BHGU, Bonies, or Franklin's).  Still, the sight of all the Laughing Gulls this close was impressive.  At one point, the gulls flushed at the passing of an adult Bald Eagle and the sky was filled with them.

Other birds in this immediate area (the marsh off Mt. Calvert) were 8 Blue-winged Teal, two dozen Greater Yellowlegs, 5 or 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Caspian Tern, 5 Forster's Terns, and a calling Barred Owl (from shore).  But the highlight was as I entered the marsh just north of the gulls and a Least Bittern flushed from the near the edge of the marsh.  I saw it briefly in flight (an adult male) before the bird settled back down out of sight further in the marsh.  The trip back was fairly quiet as I got further from the gulls, but there were lots of swallows (mostly Tree), several cormorants, and a few Wood Ducks.  Definitely a great way to end the work week.

Fred Shaffer

Crofton, Anne Arundel