Last night (7:15 PM, 12 August), I witnessed 163 (!) Bonaparte's Gulls 
flying past my yard.  I live just north of the UVM Hort. Farm in South 
Burlington, and besides the incredible number of birds involved, all of 
them were flying AWAY from Lake Champlain (west to east).  The group 
moved by in less than 5 minutes.  I have only seen Bonaparte's Gulls 
from my yard once before, and that time they were foraging aerially on 
large insects with Ring-billed Gulls.  These birds did not stop to feed 
within my line of sight, so they were either heading to water (Shelburne 
Pond perhaps) or flying to an emerging swarm of insects somewhere to the 
east.  Many were still in full breeding plumage, so some very handsome 
individuals.

Allan
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Allan M. Strong
University of Vermont
The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
007 Hills Building
Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-2910
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