Around a 1,000 gulls on the water when I arrived at 3pm, unusually mostly close to the dam, but with a fresh NW I assumed they'd eventually gather further up in the shelter of the Woodstock side at roost time. So having scanned through these I walked around to wait the main arrival. LBB counts 3,000 at 4pm quickly rose to just under 4,000 at 4:20pm with a final count of 5,500 at 4:40pm, as gulls dropped in in waves mostly from the south. BH gulls remained close to the dam end so a count after dusk of silhouetted birds reached 1750. 3 adult Yellow-legged gulls and a single adult Mediterranean gull was on the low side for recent visits. Herring gulls especially 1 year birds have increased (no count made). Single adult GBB up to no good, making the roost jittery. Common gulls up to 20. Otherwise 8 Goldeneye (4m, 4 f), 4 GC grebe and 4 Little grebe. The Canadas arrived as I was leaving around 5:15 so just silhouettes but there was a smaller goose among them most likely the Barnacle. Gull-wise it's been a bit disappointing after the excitement of recent years but you never know what's going to turn up. Here's hoping for a white-winged Christmas just like the one's we used to know...
