ML633563505

Dettagli dell'osservazione

*RARE. Awesome. Only the second ever record for Baltimore City, and the first in 47 years! Shortly after I arrived at the park, I noticed a large congregation of gulls on an exposed mudflat by the swing bridge at Swann Park. Once the birds lifted up, I saw that the vast majority--hundreds--were BOGUs, and my mind immediately went to LIGU. The flock split up, with some smaller flocks doing a loop circuit where they would fly down the Middle Branch to the Hanover Street Bridge and then back up to the swing bridge, and another sub-flock that relocated to the western shore of the river. I had been scanning the distant flock by Westport for only a couple of minutes when I saw it--the jet black underwing! One of my favorite field marks of any bird. Knowing it was a bad idea but wanting documentation, I reached for my camera--and promptly lost the bird. As I again sifted through the distant flock hoping to relocate it, I didn't pay any notice to the small group of about 25 BOGUs that had appeared just off of the near shore. It wasn't until about ten minutes later, when I finally got around to scanning the close flock, that I noticed a smaller bird within it--the LIGU. The bird had been right in front of me, and I had been completely unaware. Unfortunately, I was only able to snap a couple of blurry pictures before the birds took off, heading back towards the swing bridge. YET AGAIN, the bird-your-patch challenge pays off. Needless to say, first record for West Covington Park ;)