The little gull being seen at Hoover Res represents Franklin County's first confirmed record. An experienced observer reported one at the Greenlawn Dam back in the '80s, but without documentation or confirmation, so that didn't really pass muster. Nearby, Ed Thomas's wife and a friend reported a March bird in 1949 at O'Shaughnessy Reservoir just north of here in Delaware County via an article in the Auk, and Milt Trautman shot the first Ohio specimen over Buckeye Lake in Licking County at a seasonal date very close to ours, 11/7/1970. So this is the county's thirteenth gull species, and the 337th on the Franklin County bird list. Our 2012 list exceeds 2011's already, and we still have good chances at adding the following seasonal birds: Eurasian wigeon long-tailed duck red-throated loon golden eagle red phalarope Franklin's/Iceland/greater black-backed gulls snowy and saw-whet owls Selasphorus hummers both crossbills Without any natural lakes or high elevations, and with a lot of habitat eradicated by human activity, this county nevertheless has an extensive list. This is largely explained by a long history of careful observations and recordkeeping by active birders going back to the mid-nineteenth century. Quite possibly this many species have occurred in other central Ohio counties, but they came and went unnoticed, or at least not reported. 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]