Bonies at the flats

A few days ago I spent the morning at Conejohela Flats, canoing around because the water level was extremely high following the 3 inches of rain we had just received. Generally we spend most of our time scoping the birds out from a blind that is on one of the small islands but now the [...]

The lumping of the gulls

For any of you who have looked through a flock of gulls and thought it was hopeless to pick out the different species, you are in luck. Scientists have just released their findings in the UK journal Molecular Ecology Notes regarding DNA barcodes for bird species in North America. They found that most [...]

Year birds, state birds and a lifer

Yesterday I spent the day cruising the gull scene around Tullytown, Pa which is home to a rather massive dump. Larophiles know that dumps can often attract large numbers of gulls and this dump is no exception, attracting one of the largest numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls of anyplace in the Americas. My [...]

Another Ontelaunee sunset

I headed to Lake Ontelaunee again this evening to witness the growing numbers of gulls roosting on the lake. Apparently most of them are spending their days near a dump in Morgantown and then headed to Ontelaunee to roost. This evening there were again almost 2000 gulls, this time with a high percentage [...]

Ontelaunee Black-backed Gulls

Today was a good day for gulls at Ontelaunee. When I arrived there were several hundred circling around in the air, giving a shimmering effect when they banked and caught the sunlight just right. They almost gave the impression of snow. While they were getting their act together and collecting to a more impressive [...]

The Hungry Herring

While at Barnegat Light State Park in New Jersey late last year I was lucky enough to photograph a Herring Gull chopping down on a nice looking sea star. I normally associate sea stars with Florida or the West Coast because that is where I have seen the most and so I was surprised [...]

Strike three for Thayer’s

Well, I have been to Memorial Lake 3 times now to see the Thayer’s Gull and last night was the closest I have come to see it. It showed up as it was getting dark and Tom Johnson gave me a call that he was seeing it from across the lake. My mistake [...]