Unfortunately I wasn't (laugh!) but have been in same situation before
at other sightings -- fortunately for me the 'real thing' was finally
found in most cases.
Cheers,
Kathy Klimkiewicz
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Gulls, gulls and more gulls
Author: mdosprey@ARI.Net at NBS-Internet-Gateway
Date: 2/17/98 6:38 PM
Kathy Klimkiewicz writes:
> That could be a possibility but an even greater one is that
> everyone wasn't necessarily looking at the same individual with
> so many other gulls in the area.
I second that notion, Kathy! The morning Fran and I were at
Conowingo, we had the bird pointed out to us...and we watched it and
watched it...then after about ten minutes, another bird came
along...and the word went out...no, wait...THIS is the right
one!...and we watched it and watched it...and (you guessed it) after
about another 10 minutes the cry went out again...forget that last
one, here is the real deal!
Sigh...while it was truly an uplifting experience to see three
first-winter Common Gulls in one morning, it certainly did nothing
for our life lists nor our confidence in our own abilities to make
difficult identifications!
I loved Mark Hoffman's objective assessment of the photographs and
visual sightings he had of the bird and look forward to seeing some
photographs of the bird! I've learned a lot and, maybe, I'll have a
better idea of what to look for the next time a squadron of Common
Gulls visits Harford County! In the meantime...scratch one life
bird.
Are you SURE you weren't at the dam that same morning????? Grin...
Cheers,
Norm
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net