Yesterday I saw a lot of gulls too, returning to their evening roost (not sure where that is; presumably Ches. Bay).  I watched them pass by along the Patuxent from my house.  I was particularly interested to see if there might be a Franklin's Gull, as I found one last week with a large flock of Laughers at PG Community College, but have not looked for it again since then.  I counted about 560 Laughers and 330 Ringers but saw nothing of note (I wrote actual # down and forgot it at moment; these are etimates from memory).  The gulls were coming from the direction of Upper Marlboro, and I watched a steady stream come to Jug Bay for a rest/water stop, from 3:30 til about 4:15pm.  I was looking for anything that stood out, and when I finally got a chance after 5pm to go down to the river for a closer look (from Jackson Landing), all but ~ 70 had already left.

Point being, that they are in the familiar Fall movement pattern now (fly to Landfill to feed; rest/water nearby; return to sleep at roost on Bay) and should be watched now, as there may be other species of interest moving with them.

P.S. *** Other notes from yesterday - I saw a FOY Red-headed Woodpecker from our house, and also a FOY Gray-cheeked Thrush at Jackson Landing.  The GC Thrush was with a small group of thrushes; I got on 3 of at least 5 of them, and the first one was clearly a Gray-cheeked. The second one was clearly Swainson's, and the third one I thought at first impression was going to be Swainson's but upon closer look it was not.  There was no buff tone in the throat or cheek area, and possibly it was a Bicknell's but most likely a Gray-cheeked, I don't know.  It was not as gray as the first GC I saw, it was more brownish-gray than gray.  It only had a faint partial eye ring, uniform mantle (back and neck) rump and wing color, except it's tail seemed slightly more brownish than the rest of body.  Its spots were dark but not as dark as the first GC I saw.  The "warmer" brown tail is supposedly a Bicknell trait, but I have no photo or video of the bird.  It was out in view (in thick shrubby understory) for only a few seconds then I lost it in cover.  I couldn't id a Bicknell's without some kind of vocalization to confirm it, so I played a few calls, but there was no response.  The other two (out of 5) thrushes I saw there were flying past and I could not id them.  All these birds were seen from parking lot at boat launch area.

I also saw my FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler, but it was odd.  It was with a few Maggies but was chasing them off whenever they got to close.  It was clinging to primary tree branches of a medium sized tree, and gleaning insects from the underside.  I was very close but could not see the insects it was picking up (too small to see even from 20 feet).  I was challeneged with id'ing it at first despite a clear look at the bird for several minutes.  I decided it was just a hatch year Yellow-rump, with NO color.  Hands down the dullest warbler plumage I have ever seen!  It had a very dull greenish rump, with NO yellow, and I had exceptional views from only 20 feet away.  It had only VERY faint streaking on breast (as in barely noticeable), a faint weak eye line, and faint wing bars.  It's color was uniform darkish gray on head, wings, back and tail, except for the slight greenish tinge on rump, and a pale whitish throat and belly.  It had very faint tail spots that from below were so faint I don't think you could have seen from much beyond about 40 feet, and when it fanned its tail it only had a little bit of white on the top tail feathers, which I could only see visibly on the outer two feathers.  I have a little video of it, exceptionally dull plumage!

Cheers-
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD

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