I join the perplexed, but I have a notion of a hypothesis for gull numbers in central Ohio. This season may be a record winter compared with recent decades. We have 'enjoyed' NW winds, I'm guessing, an order of magnitude more than during the mild winters we enjoyed up until last year. The inland reservoirs have been frozen solid (my local ones here in central Ohio, anyway) much of the winter. Large numbers of gulls now present are foraging on fixed wings for long periods of time, using the breeze, over limited open water areas (and some large open water, lately), then plunging or dipping for fish. The successful gulls I've seen dip or plunge have scored DEAD fish. Only a few of the small fish I have seen them take appear to be alive (I recall only one at the moment). The water is cold; accumulated dead fish probably are near neutral buoyancies. Dead fish floating in the water column would slowly rise within gull plunge-depth, but easily get washed deep again by wave action--hence the birds stay on wing for long periods (dead fish are not blown ashore because they are too deep, most of the time). The ice cover could be the reason for the fish kill (if there has been an unusually large winter kill on reservoirs?). Gulls attract gulls, but why would uncommon white-headed gulls leave the Erie shores? Lack of food there? Or, do we throw more loaves of bread in central Ohio? Just thinking out loud, Tom Bain Central Ohio Clayey Till Plain Delaware County ______________________________________________________________________ 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]