This morning while conducting the Summitville Hawk Watch, at 11:10 am I noticed two gulls coming at me over the first nob northeast of the tower. As the birds got closer, I realized something wasn't right. They were neither Herring nor Ring-billed Gulls, our most common at the site. They had a distinct pattern to their upper side, dark primaries and secondaries forming a demarcation with a gray/brown back and wing coverts. They had an overall dingy gray appearance with bright white rump and upper tail and a dark black terminal band on the tail. As they got even closer, I realized that their bills were black. At that moment I put it all together and realized I was seeing two first winter LAUGHING GULLS! This is a first for me in Sullivan County. They continued along the ridge until they were adjacent to the tower, out over the valley. Here they caught a thermal in an open spot in the clouds and spiraled skyward into the clouds and were not seen again. I can only speculate on how they happen to be here, but I sure am glad they were. John Haas
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