There were 10,000 - 12,000 gulls at Conowingo today, January 23. Full generation all day. Heavy fog precluded seeing anything until noon. In the afternoon there were, among the usual suspects: Lesser Black-backed Gull 3 (2 ad, 1 3rd winter) Iceland Gull 1 (2nd winter) THAYER'S GULL 1 (1st winter) Trumpeter Swan (?) 4 The Thayer's was feeding at the base of the dam and was seen by myself and six others. It had all the field marks one associates with the species, assuming it is a species and that the field marks are relevant. More details will appear later. The swans were back in their favorite haunt across the river, too far away to see well, except for a brief period before my arrival when they were seen well by 3-5 birders who felt they fit the criteria for Trumpeters. The saga is undoubtedly frustrating, with casual mentions and reports going back to mid December. At least one of the birds, which was seen last week above the dam, at distances of less than 50 feet for more than 10 minutes, is definitely a Trumpeter. I have suspicions about the others but have not seen them well enough to confirm the identification. The bird we saw at point blank range had no bands (both legs seen well), and flew freely and easily. It was a bird of the year. We have been unable to track down any escapes and all known birds in captivity have bands and are accounted for. It is probably (but it is impossible to be certain), that this is one fo the birds from the re-established Great Lakes population, which is breeding and expanding and which has been found in winter south and east of the breeding range, especially in rivers. Countability is a personal issue. A lengthier discussion of the bird seen above the dam will come later. Rick "A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits." Edith Sitwell Rick Blom rblom@blazie.com 4318 Cowan Place Belcamp, Maryland 21017 (410)575-6086