After quite a few weeks out of the country on travel I took a day off work yesterday to do some birding on the Eastern Shore.
   
  I checked out 3 landfills.  The best gull diversity was at the Talbot landfill, which had a feisty 1st winter Glaucous Gull as well as 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (an adult, 2 2nd winter birds, one sub-adult of interdeterminate age and a 1st winter) and the expected 3 other species.  I then got to the Beulah landfill by 10 AM but the gulls had already dispersed to the fields and though there were several thousand gulls at Salisbury I could find nothing more unusual than two adult Lesser Black-backs.  Digressing a little, this seems to have been a decent year round here for Glaucous Gulls (there have been at least 4 different individuals this season at my "local" landfill in Prince William Co, Virginia) but not so great for Iceland, which I have seen on just two occasions this winter.  I managed a couple of pictures of the Talbot Glaucous:
   
  http://www.harrisbirds.com/GLAUCOUS7.htm
   
  In between Beulah and Salisbury I came across a herd of c 1200 Tundra Swan in a field along Rte 331, easily the most I've ever seen together.  I then went on to Elliot Island Rd and got only poor and distant views of a light Rough-legged Hawk, then went on to Blackwater where I found 4 of the American White Pelicans.  I searched through the thousands of Canadas on the refuge but could not turn up a Cackling or White-front.
   
  A word on landfill access.  At Talbot they let me in but were surprised at the request and gave me the impression they were letting me in as an exception. At Beulah I had conflicting stories on access: I signed in at the scales but was shortly afterwards told by a worker that since there is heavy equipment doing some re-engineering (or something) birders shouldn't be in the site at present, so I am not sure what the story is there and suggest you check before going.  Finally, at Salisbury make sure you go to the office first rather than going straight to the scales.
  
Regards
   
  Clive Harris
  Cabin John, MD