I want to share an interesting experience I had late yesterday evening. I
drove out to Carvins Cove Reservoir not knowing when the gates are locked this
time of year. When I got there it was already dark, about 6:40, and the gates
were locked. This put me about 200 yds. away from the lake. The only light was
from several utility lamps around the parking lot. I couldn't see the water but
I could see fog coming off of the lake. I could hear a few gulls out on the
lake and a few Canada Geese near shore. Suddenly the gulls erupted in a loud
clamor that sounded like hundreds. I still couldn't see any of them. I could
also hear the water churning very loudly. Then it would get quiet again for a
minute or so and then the gulls would erupt again and I would hear the same
churning of the water. This happened several times and was like nothing I've
ever
experienced before around here. It was an incredible sound! The only thing I
could think of for an explanation was that large schools of Stripers were
feeding on the bait fish and pushing them to the surface where the gulls were.
Today I talked to one of the guys that works there and he agreed with my
explanation. I wanted to throw this out to some of you who may know more about
this
behavior. Are the gulls able to see well enough in the dark to catch the bait
fish? Do they typically feed at night? And is this a time when the Stripers
would be feeding? This time of year we sometimes count several hundred
Ring-billed Gulls at the cove so there very well could have been hundreds there
last
night. Any comments would be appreciated.
Mike Purdy
Roanoke, Va.
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