Herring Gulls to the Chesapeake

In July (2009), three nesting herring gulls on Kent Island, just south of Grand Manan Island and the field station for Bowdoin College (Maine), were fitted with satellite transmitters. One gull headed to the Chesapeake immediately after a failed nesting attempt while the other two remained in the area, one spending many months in Maine and the other in Nova Scotia. In December these two gulls started migrating and are now also in the Chesapeake area. You can follow the movements of these birds on the seaturtle.org website (http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=428). The tags, if they stay on, will operate from two to three years and should provide valuable insight into a species of birds we often take for granted.