During my lunchtime gull count at Schoolhouse Pond, I turned up 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (1 adult and 1 2nd winter).  Also present were 5 Great Black-backed Gulls (2 3rd winter, 1 4th winter and 2 1st winter). In addition to the hundreds of Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls (over 600 of each species), also of note were 450 Herring Gulls.   

There were so many gulls scattered across the ice that it was hard to know where to start.  Hopefully the cold nights will keep the ice around for awhile.  There easily could have been other rare gulls mixed in with the hundreds of Herring, Laughing, and Ring-billed Gulls, but it is easy to pass over an unusual bird when there are that many clustered together.

Fred Shaffer

Patuxent MOS