Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 15:31:02 -0500
From: Shawneen Finnegan/Paul Lehman
To: NJ Birds Mailing list
Subject: Thayer's Gulls and Varied Thrush
We have heard from the feeder owners in Buena that the Varied Thrush has NOT been seen since Wednesday. Please do not go there unless we hear back from them that the bird has reappeared.
There has been a flurry of Thayer's Gull reports. Up to two first-winter birds and one adult have been seen the past week at Florence (on both the NJ and PA sides of the river), and another first-winter bird was found today (Saturday) near Cape May on Ocean Drive. All the birds look pretty much like Thayer's Gulls, but it is usually a bit uncertain here on the East Coast whether or not some of these birds may have some "Kumlien's" blood in them! The Cape May bird is frequenting fish-processing plants and moored fishing boats on the left immediately before the toll bridge heading out Ocean Drive a little over a mile from Cape May. The plant property and parking lot is PRIVATE AND OFF-LIMITS to birders. (This has been made VERY clear to us by the manager!) There are plenty of "no parking" signs up along Ocean Drive here as well. So, what one should do is park about 150 yards before this, on the left, at the parking lot for Axelson and Johnson's fish market and the Blue Claw restaurant, and walk the rest of the way to just before the bridge where the gulls are. It is certainly legal to just stand on the side of the road and look into the plant property, or to go under the bridge on the rough clam-shell road. Also seen here today were a typical first-winter Iceland Gull, an adult Black-headed Gull, and 2 adult Lesser Black-backeds. In all, given the private property and parking problems here, it probably would be better to do one's Thayer's searching at Florence!
--Paul Lehman