This isn't just an Ohio thing, odd/northern gulls are showing up in Florida and Gulf coast states as well from what I have been reading. Things are a changing fast. I would guess it has something to do with changing weather/climate and its effect on their ability to find food. Got my life Glaucous Gull at East Fork just last November. Florida RBA: http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/FLRB.html http://www.birdchick.com/2009/02/gulls-at-daytona-beach.html Don Morse Jr. New Richmond, OH http://donaldthebirder.blogspot.com/ On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > It might be interesting for those interested in gulls to share some > thoughts about recent phenomena. Numerous first county records have been > set at inland reservoirs since 15 Feb. I just heard from Doug Overacker, > who summarizes reports from Springfield County's Buck Creek Res--125 air > miles from the Lake--of lesser black-backed once, Iceland once, and > glaucous gulls on three occasions. At Hoover Res here, we've had all > three, two of them first county records I believe, plus a kittiwake--our > second of the season--over five days. Bob Royse just reported 2 lessers, > a glaucous, and a great black-backed gull from Deer Creek Res in > Pickaway Co. Ethan and Craig noted unusual inland numbers of these gulls > in the NE inland counties. Tom Bain had a lesser up the road at Alum > Creek Res the other day. Gabe reported unprecedented numbers of > white-winged gulls at Oberlin Res. > Probably others of these gulls have been missed, mostly because many > birders inland are not used to them, and pay less attention to gulls > this time of year, when the same old two species are as many as they > expect. Observers at Ohio's lakefront hotspots certainly noticed > unusually high numbers of white-winged gulls this winter, though gbbgs > and lbbgs seemed less numerous than usual. I could be wrong, but I > don't recall any news like this from adjacent Great Lakes states. > So, why might this be happening? Sure, gull migration is > underway--except Bonaparte's, not due for a week or two--but not in a > dramatic way as far as I hear (though at Hoover we saw 10-20 thousand > ring-bills last Saturday, even though the proportion of younger birds > seemed low; yesterday we saw fewer than a thousand, but still a > glaucous). And of course the four aforementioned species, which do not > breed in the Great Lakes, but far north and east of here (yeah, there's > a record or two of gbbg nests in the region) seem to be headed the wrong > way! > Once you eliminate normal migratory movements, the next explanation > you > tend to look for is food. There's been more open water on Lake Erie than > on reservoirs recently. Are inland reservoirs offering some attractive > new food source that attracts species that breed far to the north to > detour south for it? Or is food getting scarce in Lake Erie, where all > these birds would be now in Ohio during normal years? I'm at a loss. > Strong prevailing winds? This is hardly the first year we've had > strong > winds in winter, but the first time these gulls have been noticed moving > this far south in such numbers. > Thoughtful speculations are invited. I haven't seen anything like this > in my years of birding in Ohio, and I can't find any evidence of it in > the historical record,either. > Bill Whan > Columbus > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > 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] > ______________________________________________________________________ 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]