Nice birding day today along Lake Erie. A. Had great views of the Black-headed Gull in Conneaut. Winds were nominal from the West shifting North. The bird was right along the beach. Thanks to the group there for pointing it out. The bird is significantly bigger than a Bonaparte's Gull. The legs are a good deal longer. This bird's legs color was similar to other bonaparte's but more saturated. Of course the bill was the best character. Some fuzzy digiscoped photos: http://is.gd/n9Z2Sz B. Ashtabula Harbor proved challenging for the Black-tailed Gull. I arrived at 3:30 p.m. after numerous sightings had already occurred. We had a brief but clear look at the gull amongst a line of gulls sitting on the tracks from the Norfold Southern Building before it got spooked by hunters. The bird's mantle was much darker than a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Also the white windows at the tips of the primaries are quite small. I think the black tail is the best mark. Thanks to the expert indication of location by another birder! The hunter's shots were a help and a hinderance, sometimes flushing birds for better viewing and sometimes upsetting that good view! ---- We saw the Black-tailed Gull from here: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6283268? source=wapi&referrer=kh.google.com It's mantle is quite dark, closer to a Great Black-backed Gull's in color. The eye did seem to have quite a dark spot. The primaries were quite dark with white windows not readily apparent. The bird was here looking down towards the coal pile: http://is.gd/wfH30C GPS coordinates where bird was seen are: 41.906873-80.798886 C. There was a flurry of people who came up to the Lakeshore Park pinic area around 3:30 p.m. (here: http://is.gd/qA2yFm) for a false alarm to find a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Pics here: http://is.gd/n9Z2Sz A good photo of a black-headed may be found here: http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-birdnews-2009-12.shtml This really is a group effort! Good birding. Hans C. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]