I'm not a fish expert, but I would be surprised to find gizzard had at reservoirs such as Oberlin.  I would think shad would be found in reservoirs where streams were dammed and shad had been present in the system previously.  I have not heard of anyone stocking gizzard shad.  When you get an extended period in the winter where snow covers the ice it often leads to fish kills.  I think Bill is on the right track that these birds are from the east coast.  I think that major storm a week or so ago the followed the coast may have pushed them inland.  It seems to me there are a lot more glaucous, Iceland, and lesser black-backed gulls inland than what we get on the lake.  One species I haven't seen mentioned except for at Oberlin is Thayer's.  Its a bird you wouldn't find on the east coast.  There is often a daily movement of gulls from the Lake Erie to Oberlin Reservoir and back every day.  This could be where the Thayer's came from.  The kittiwake on the other hand is a coastal species.  It will be interesting to see if there is any gull movement along the lake this weekend.

 

John Pogacnik

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