Where They Go at Night

[Black-headed Gull, left, with Bonaparte's Gull near the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal about 6:30 p.m. tonight. Click photo to enlarge.]

High tide and sundown coincided tonight, and after work I drove down the bayshore wondering what the Bonaparte's Gulls do at night, high tide or not.

Almost no gulls occupied the standard spots along the bay, but a flock in the Cape May canal at the Cape May-Lewes ferry terminal answered the question - 100 or so Bonaparte's Gulls were there, with one adult Black-headed in the mix. A ferry departed as I arrived, and for a while the gulls fed in the roiled water left in its wake. Then, en masse near dark, they rose and swept out the inlet, circled a bit, and settled on Delaware Bay. Gulls roost where they think they are safe from predators, and for the Bonies - and Black-headed - that meant open water tonight.