I started Sunday morning at Fairport Harbor, where there were very large numbers of gulls. My conservative guess is +5000, but probably closer to 8,000 - 10,000 gulls, in flight, sitting on the water and on the ice in the river. The gulls were mostly, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls with a few Great Black-backed Gulls. There were more Great Black-backed Gulls sitting out on the jetty. I scanned the large flock of gull sitting on the ice pack in the river, up river from the fishing pier. I found one Lesser Black-backed Gull sitting in this flock--not a new bird for the year/month. There were Red-breasted and Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye as well inside the far breakwall parallel to the beach and along the breakwater to the lighthouse. There was a sizeable flock of Bonaparte's Gulls flying in the inlet out by the light house. Not very many gulls at Eastlake Power Plant. I found one adult plumage Glaucous Gull with yellow bill sitting with Herring Gulls on the far pier. There was an interesting looking light tan/brown colored immature Herring-type gull, apparently without dark primaries, sitting near an immature Herring Gull with very dark primaries, at the very end of the far pier. I walked west through the parking lot forward the power plant, hopefully to get a somewhat closer view. However, something flushed all the roosting gulls, and I could not find this immature bird again for closer study. I could have been a Thayer's Gull, but I'm not counting it, as I did not have a good enough look. After the gulls settled, I found a first cycle Glaucous Gull sitting with immature Herring Gulls on the near pier, close to the hot water outlet. Glaucous Gull is number 102. I went to Sims Park to look for the King Eider reported there. Met Dan Sanders, Bill Whan, Paul Garner and Ben Warner from Columbus there just as they were leaving, after an unsuccessful search for the King Eider. Dan Bill and company told me about the Harris' Sparrow in Holmes County and the Harlequin Duck at Lorain. Just as I was starting to scan at the pier, Steve Borghius (correct spelling) arrived, and we scanned from the pier as well as from the cliffs. No luck. Just before we left, the wind picked up and lake effect snow increased and drastically reduced visibility. Steve, another January Century lister, had contacted me about some birds that he still needs that I saw in SW Ohio. Steve told me about the Wood Duck at Chagrin Reservation Metopark, and gave me directions. It was only about 10 minutes to the Nature Center where I saw the drake Wood Duck swimming with Mallards and Black Duck in the water kept open with a bubbler system. Wood Duck is number 103. Then I headed west to E. 72nd Street to scan the gulls. Met Steve again at E. 72nd Street. The conditions were fierce with biting wind and blowing snow! Perfect for gull watching! After Steve left for Lorain, I did find one Lesser Black-backed Gull sitting on the water and had a brief view of a white winged gull on the water with Herring Gulls. Based on size, I believe that this was another Glaucous Gull. There were large numbers of mostly Ring-billed and Herring Gulls with fewer Great Black-backed Gulls there while I was present. I left E. 72nd Street at about 2:30-2:45 pm. At Lorain, at the end of Oberlin Street, met Steve again. We joined with a local lady birder, who helped us find our way around the several piers for many vantage points of the area waters. I never saw the Harlequin Duck, but it could have been there. Visibility was getting worse by the minute, and it was nearly impossible to set up a telescope outside my van. There was one interesting smallish dark duck, diving right next to and at the end of the pier just to the west of the main largest, first pier. At first it seemed that this was the Harlequin Duck. However, I watched this area with my telescope from inside my van, and found a female Common Goldeneye. It was a goldeneye and not the Harlequin, because it had the triangular head shape, no white marks on the face and had the broken white line along the wing that a female Common Goldeneye shows. When the bird turned to be perpendicular to my sight line, it showed the white in the front that a female Common Goldenye shows. The Harlequin Duck is probably still there but was being elusive, as usual. I left Lorain at about 4:45-5:00 pm for the long drive south and home through increasing and blowing snow. Jay Jay G. Lehman Cincinnati, OH [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]