Slaty-backed Gull at Conowingo today
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Tue, 09 Feb 1999 21:54:29 -0500
Hello all,
Went to Conowingo at 1:30pm before return to work at 3pm. First I
stopped by at Harve De Grace to see the possible Slaty-backed Gull,
after arrive there at 1:00pm, found the bird at 1:10pm going upriver on
Cecil side, seen from the boardwalk. The reason I know this bird was at
Harve De Grace, because I check the other e-mail from someone who saw
the bird and it is only seen in early morning and in the evening at the
dam, and between 10am-3pm somewhere upriver or downriver.
I couldn't count the Ring-billed Gulls, because I was still sick
(headache & sore throat) from a rough trip to Bridge-Tunnel on Sat. I
left at 2:30pm today to go to work at Fallston Veterinary Clinic, Inc.
(3pm-7pm), a hospital for dogs, cats, and birds.
Rick Blom and his gang was at the dam today before I came at 1:30pm.
Other birds seen:
Common Loon - 1 upriver
Great Blue Heron - 95 prs. at nests on Cecil side, counted 113 nests,
but few are empty.
Black-crowned Night Heron - a pr. at nest at rookery, & a imm. at island
Tundra Swan - 2 seen in flight toward north
Canada Geese - 2 at south end of island
Common Merganser - 53 above dam
Bufflehead - 5
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL - 4 (1 ad., 1 1st winter, & 2 3rd winter)
ICELAND GULL - 2 (1 ad. & 1 3rd winter at the wall and behind)
THAYER'S GULL - 1 (1st winter) flying around behind wall
CALIFORNIA GULL - 1 (2nd winter - swimming behind the wall)
GLAUCOUS GULL - none today
Ring-billed Gull - hard to count with a headache, estimate. at
19,000-20,000
Herring Gull - 1,006
Great Black-backed Gull - 384
Bald Eagle - 5 (2 ad., 1 1st winter & 2 2nd winter)
Turkey Vulture - 13
Black Vulture - 58 all perched on several trees above the Visitor Center
Rock Dove - 143
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
N. Cardinal - 6
Blue Jay - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3
"Slate-colored" Junco - 10
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com