[va-bird] Ring-billed Gulls continue movement [Lynchburg]

The movement of gulls through our area that I noted occuring yesterday has
interested me, so I decided to do some consistent monitoring to better
understand its magnitude, relationship to the weather, and relationship to
time of day.  I expected the movements to predominate under the southerly
wind flow such as we had yesterday, which would be a tail wind for the
gulls.  So I was surprised at the number of gulls moving this morning, as
the cold front went through last evening, and we have a blustery northwest
wind under clear skies this morning.  From 7:30-8:00 AM I noted 217
Ringbills, with the largest group numbering 45.  At 8:00 I decided to
investigate an alternate viewing site along the same flight path, where I
would not just be pulled off the road along a side street.  The community
college parking lot had a good view, but the gull flight path seemed to be a
bit to the north, making counting difficult.  So I moved to the nearby mall
parking lot where I found myself better situated.  By 9:15 AM I had counted
another 163, for a total of 380.  During some of this time my counting was
interrupted as I had to explain to the mall security personel what I was
doing in their parking lot with binoculars.  A few years ago I had no
problem doing the same during the fall hawk migration, but since 9/11 such
activities understandably draw more attention.  I wasn't seeing any more
gulls the last 30 minutes or so of observation, but I'm not sure if this was
because I had changed my position a couple of times in the large mall
parking lot trying to find the optimal viewing position and had lost track
of the flight line, or it had shifted, or the birds were higher and more
difficult to detect, or the movement had really tapered off, at least
temporarily.  As was the case yesterday, the birds were flying high enough
that spotting them can be a challenge.  More observations should clarify
some of the questions I have.

Gene Sattler
Lynchburg
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