In September 2010, a red-billed, red-legged gull was reported from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-tunnel, thought to be an aberrant Laughing Gull and on September 4, 2011, a similar gull, though orange-billed, was seen at the boat ramp at Eastern Shore of VA National Wildlife Refuge...then...the same bird or another, was at the bridge-tunnel on September 23, 2011...then...the same or another was reported in late September from fields on the lower Eastern Shore. The top picture here is from the bridge-tunnel this year and the bottom picture is from the Refuge....notice the wingtip difference...and the mantle color can look quite different depending on the light...the bird, or birds, appeared to have a mantle color similar to nearby Laughing Gulls.
Brian Taber
