Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:43:54 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sherry Peruzzi Subject: Kelp Gull MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My husband, Ken Board, and I went down to Sandgates to see Shrimpie today and were very successful. We got there about 2:00, and had a late lunch at the Seabreeze Restaurant. Not long after we got there, a black-backed gull with a large red spot on its bill swooped over the pilings and we got a good view of it through the windows. We couldn't be 100% certain it was Shrimpie, but the white spots on the ends of its wings were almost invisibly small, so we think it was. After we ate we went outside and wandered around. A flock of three beautiful Long-tailed Ducks dived just beyond the pier for the entire time we were there, giving us something to watch while we waited for the Kelp Gull to come back. (There were a number of other divers further out in the river, but I'm still saving my pennies for a scope and we couldn't see them well enough to ID them.) While we waited black-backed gulls would fly in from time to time, but their pink legs indicated all were Great Black-backeds, and all four were still young enough to have at least some black on their bills. At long last another large black-backed gull flew in and landed on a piling right next to a Great Black-backed. Its greenish-yellow legs clearly contrasted with the Great Black-backed's pink ones, and its bill had a bright red spot without a trace of black. It was definitely Shrimpie. We watched it for about a half hour, until it flew away up the river. The light was starting to dim by then, so we headed for home. I know many of you have already seen the Kelp Gull -- some of you many times -- but it was an exciting lifer for us! Sherry Peruzzi Howard County bookworms =at= comcast =dot= net ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================