John Pogacnik mentioned having seen two flocks of Northern Pintails at
Ottawa NWR, northwest Ohio, early today (Saturday 12/27), and passed along
the report that 300 were across the lake at Pt Pelee today also.  This
afternoon I was looking at gulls at Port Clinton, just a few miles east of
Ottawa refuge, and I also was surprised to see pintails -- I saw three
flocks flying offshore, all heading east to west, the flocks consisting of
about 15, 25, and 12 birds and including both males and females. These were
pure flocks with nothing else mixed in.  In my experience there generally
aren't many pintails here in mid-winter and it was a surprise to see them
after the extreme cold of last weekend.

With the unseasonable warmth today the gulls at Port Clinton were more
dispersed than they had been recently.  One first-cycle Lesser Black-backed
was the only species of note (last week I had three Lesser Black-backs here,
one second-cycle type and two adults).  While I was watching gulls on the
waterfront, a flock of about 40 Snow Buntings came in from over the lake,
flying directly into a stiff south-southwest wind.

Kenn Kaufman
Rocky Ridge, Ohio

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