Day 2: Black-headed Gull

Today, we went to a Best Buy outside of Baltimore to see a rare mid-Atlantic bird, the Black-headed Gull. The bird had been seen for several weeks hanging out in the Best Buy parking lot, so Jared and I drove up to check it out. As we approached the store in our car, we saw a big group of Ring-billed Gulls just chilling in the lot, but not our bird. I knew what we were looking for; the Black-headed Gull has a red bill and legs, and in the winter it has two dark vertical streaks on its head.

Suddenly, I noticed a bird we had overlooked a ways off in the parking lot. Grabbing my binoculars, I realized it was our bird! That same moment, a car drove by and scared the Black-headed Gull even closer to our parked car. It landed within a few feet of us, and we had the opportunity to take some great photos and video.

 

 Our video of the Black-headed Gull at Best Buy

Since we found the gull so quickly, we decided to celebrate our luck with a yummy lunch at Chick-Fil-A!

Fun fact: The Black-headed Gull breeds in Europe and Asia. Last year, there were only a handful of records for the species in Maryland, so this was a great find.