Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 17:21:44 EST
On 25 and 26 November 1998 on the Tamaulipas coast due east
of Matamoros
we saw and photographed some interesting gulls, including an adult
Kelp
Gull, a first winter Thayer's Gull, 3 or 4 Lesser Black-backed
Gulls of
various ages, and several California and Franklin's Gulls.
Most of these birds were with many hundreds of other gulls
on the beach 1
to 8 kilometers south of the public bathing beach called Playa
Bagdad.
They were concentrated in an area where fishing boats land to
unload and
clean their catch. Some boats fish at night, others during the
day, so
there is much feeding activity by gulls both morning and afternoon,
with
a lull around midday. Because of the fishing activity, we think
there
is a good chance these gulls will remain for a while.
To reach Playa Bagdad, take National Highway 2 (Av. Lauro Villar)
east
from Matamoros. Playa Bagdad is 38 kilometers east of the central
Matamoros junction of Highways 2 and 180. Most maps of the area
are
incorrect, in that they show 'Playa Lauro Villar' at the eastern
teminus
of Highwy 2, and Playa Bagdad a tiny village to the north at the
mouth of
the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo). In fact there is no Playa Lauro Villar,
and
Playa Bagdad is at the eastern terminus of Highway 2.
We birded the beach some 16 kilometers north to the mouth of
the Rio
Grande, and about an equal distance south of Playa Bagdad. Flocks
of
roosting gulls were scattered along the coast. A few immature
Northern
Gannets were seen during our limited scanning of the sea. The
Franklin's
Gulls were with Laughing Gulls on the lagoons just inland from
the beach.
Peregrines were numerous and remarkably tame. This trip we did
little
birding between Matamoros and the beach, mainly because much of
the area
was flooded, but last January we saw a Downy Woodpecker near the
road at
kilometer 23, and a Prairie Falcon at kilometer 30.
Carol E. Edwards / John P. Gee