High Folks Because the moon was in last quarter I decided a little looksee to make sure the gulls were not barnacle feeding. That would support the full moon hypothesis. It was mid tide falling, So I did my Bridgeport run, and was totally surprised. St. Mary's is a bluff, people park there, eat lunch etc. at the base of the bluff there is a rip-rap of rocks. Not a single gull to be seen feeding in the rocks. There were no gulls on the guard rails to beg for food. I scanned across the way to Jennings Beach and there were no gulls on the beach. Over on Penfield Reef there were two groups of about 160 birds total, and another 150 in the water off the reef. There was about 500 greater Scaup in that area that flew to the east. Over in Black Rock Harbor there were no gulls on any of the pilings in the marinas! There were no gulls in Captain's Cove! On to Seaside Park. There were gulls there, a few small groups totaling about 500 gulls. For the most part the beaches were empty. Off shore at Seaside park there was a huge mixed congregation of Scaup and Brant streching from Fayerweather Island. to nearly the mouth of Bridgeport Harbor a distance of about a mile and a half. It was not a continuous raft but groups scattered along the length. I would estimate about a thousand Brant, and about 8 thousand Scaup. They looked to be barnacle feeding. Also there was over a hundred Common Goldeneye. Inside the harbor there were no gulls on the Pleasure Beach side. What about Stratford? I went to Long Beach and there were no gulls the length of the parking lot. not even the Glaucous Gull. There was tape up at the end of the lot with police there so I couldn't get a good look at the length of the beach but it looked barren as well. There was the usual couple hundred Goldeneye down the beach and 300 mixed flock of Dunlin and Sanderling. Over by the sea wall still no gulls. There is always a group of Ring- billed gulls by the diner there, they were gone. Off shore all morning there were a few gulls flying off shore to the east, but, not a steady stream. On to Short Beach At Short Beach there were finally gulls, mostly on the flats. I figured I saw about 3000 birds. That was a lot of birds but I am not sure if that represents all the gulls not seen elsewhere. What is hapening here? I have no idea. Bridgeport, 7:30 to 10:00 Ash Creek, Black Rock Harbor, Seaside Park Brant 20 75 1145 Canada Goose 12 28 - American Wigeon 24 10 34 American Black Duck 56 54 82 Mallard 10 78 8 Northern Pintail 0 1 1 Greater Scaup 500 4 8000 Lesser Scaup - 58 - Bufflehead 58 2 - Common Goldeneye 120 2 120 Hooded Merganser 0 2 - Red-breasted Merganser 32 18 4 Red-throated Loon 0 1 1 Horned Grebe 0 2 4 Great Cormorant 0 1 2 Mixed Gulls 300 0 0 - Great Black-bacled Gull 1 0 1 Ring-billed Gull - - 256/3 Herring Gull - - 228/43

Dennis and others, I found the same thing late Monday afternoon: Stratford Long Beach and Seawall were surprisingly devoid of gulls, including the Glaucous and the always-present Ring-billeds at Marnick's Restaurant beach. But then about 4pm today, my wife Linda stopped at Merwin Point for a walk, and just had to call me to tell me of "thousands" of gulls just offshore here and spreading east into West Haven. In Westport, off Compo and Sherwood Is. today and yesterday there have been up to 500 gulls foraging offshore. And I have not seen the ICELAND GULL there these past 2 days either. Frank Mantlik Stratford --- On Tue, 3/17/09, Dennis Varza <dennisvz@optonline.net> wrote: > From: Dennis Varza <dennisvz@optonline.net> > Subject: [CT Birds] A Gulling mystery > To: "Posting Bird List" <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> > Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 2:03 PM > High Folks > > Because the moon was in last quarter I decided a little > looksee to make sure the gulls were not barnacle feeding. > That would support the full moon hypothesis. It was mid tide > falling, So I did my Bridgeport run, and was totally > surprised. > > St. Mary's is a bluff, people park there, eat lunch > etc. at the base of the bluff there is a rip-rap of rocks. > Not a single gull to be seen feeding in the rocks. There > were no gulls on the guard rails to beg for food. I scanned > across the way to Jennings Beach and there were no gulls on > the beach. Over on Penfield Reef there were two groups of > about 160 birds total, and another 150 in the water off the > reef. There was about 500 greater Scaup in that area that > flew to the east. > > Over in Black Rock Harbor there were no gulls on any of the > pilings in the marinas! There were no gulls in > Captain's Cove! On to Seaside Park. There were gulls > there, a few small groups totaling about 500 gulls. For the > most part the beaches were empty. > > Off shore at Seaside park there was a huge mixed > congregation of Scaup and Brant streching from Fayerweather > Island. to nearly the mouth of Bridgeport Harbor a distance > of about a mile and a half. It was not a continuous raft but > groups scattered along the length. I would estimate about a > thousand Brant, and about 8 thousand Scaup. They looked to > be barnacle feeding. Also there was over a hundred Common > Goldeneye. Inside the harbor there were no gulls on the > Pleasure Beach side. What about Stratford? > > I went to Long Beach and there were no gulls the length of > the parking lot. not even the Glaucous Gull. There was tape > up at the end of the lot with police there so I couldn't > get a good look at the length of the beach but it looked > barren as well. There was the usual couple hundred Goldeneye > down the beach and 300 mixed flock of Dunlin and Sanderling. > > Over by the sea wall still no gulls. There is always a > group of Ring-billed gulls by the diner there, they were > gone. Off shore all morning there were a few gulls flying > off shore to the east, but, not a steady stream. On to Short > Beach > > At Short Beach there were finally gulls, mostly on the > flats. I figured I saw about 3000 birds. That was a lot of > birds but I am not sure if that represents all the gulls not > seen elsewhere. > > What is hapening here? I have no idea. > > Bridgeport, 7:30 to 10:00 Ash Creek, Black Rock Harbor, > Seaside Park > > Brant 20 75 1145 > Canada Goose 12 28 - > American Wigeon 24 10 34 > American Black Duck 56 54 82 > Mallard 10 78 8 > Northern Pintail 0 1 1 > Greater Scaup 500 4 8000 > Lesser Scaup - 58 - > Bufflehead 58 2 - > Common Goldeneye 120 2 120 > Hooded Merganser 0 2 - > Red-breasted Merganser 32 18 4 > Red-throated Loon 0 1 1 > Horned Grebe 0 2 4 > Great Cormorant 0 1 2 > Mixed Gulls 300 0 0 - > Great Black-bacled Gull 1 0 1 > Ring-billed Gull - - 256/3 > Herring Gull - - 228/43 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological > Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in > Connecticut. > For subscription information visit > http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org