Message:

[

Previous   Next

]

By Topic:

[

Previous   Next

]

Subject:

Jug Bay Bonaparte's Gulls, 1/20

From:

Robert Ostrowski

Reply-To:

Robert Ostrowski

Date:

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:22:33 -0500

This evening while scoping the Patuxent River from Jackson Landing, I 
saw 61 Bonaparte's Gulls flying south in a more-or-less straight line. 
All adults.  Apparently they weren't associating with the approximately 
1,800 Ring-billed and 300 Herring Gulls loafing on the bay, because they 
simply flew past them without hesitation. 61 is a somewhat remarkable 
count for this location at this time of year. In fact, it's my highest 
in the county period. The times that I've been close to this number has 
been during migration and usually on the Potomac.

It was also interesting to see that most of the gulls were Ring-billed's 
today. A few days ago (1/17), the numbers were still high but the 
species composition was reversed with nearly 1,100 Herring Gulls and 
only a couple hundred Ring-billed's. That day I spotted three Lesser 
Black-backed Gulls, but I didn't see any today.

Rob Ostrowski
Crofton, MD