Hello Ohbirders, This morning the ornithology class, Jed Burtt, Bill Heck and I observed 5 species of gull at Delaware Reservoir. Along with 400 Ring-billed, 10-15 Herring, and a dozen Bonaparte's, we saw one full adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, and one 4th year subadult GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. Lesser Black-backed Gull- full adult with clean plumage and red spot on bill. The mantle was dark gray, and noticeably darker than adjacent Ring-billeds and Herrings, but not black. The bird was intermediate in size of a Ring-billed and Herring- larger than a Ring-billed but not quite Herring Gull size. It had a fairly rounded head and an medium sized bill. The primary projection was very long, about 1/4 the total length of back of the bird. The primaries when folded were mostly black. Great Black-backed Gull- 4th year subadult. This bird had a dirty black tip to the bill and a couple very small light gray spots on the mantle. The mantle was extremely dark gray, appearing black. Huge gull! Dwarfed the little Ring-billeds, which appeared about half the size, and still bigger than an adjacent Herring Gull. It had a flat top of the head, with a very thick neck and a huge bill. The primary projection was short, only about 1/8 the length of the back of the bird. The primaries when folded had a noticeable amount of white showing. Good birding, Sean --- Sean Williams, '11 Undergraduate of Ornithology of Dr. Jed Burtt Ohio Wesleyan University HWCC 724 Delaware, OH 43015 617-470-4094 ______________________________________________________________________ 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]