If you’re not a bird watcher you won’t be very excited, though gulls are graceful in flight and striking in appearance. If you’re a bird watcher this makes you weak in the knees.

There are many gull species in the world. This one is noticeably different from any gull we have in Vermont.

If I had to leave Vermont in February, there’s no place I’d rather be than mucking around a swamp in Arkansas searching for these birds.

This bird has never been seen in Vermont, and it’s extraordinarily rare in the U.S..