"the mystery gull/ European Herring Gull"

 Back in March 2, 2022 I saw a few gull at Old Field Point Lighthouse that caused a stir - around the same time there was a Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull (did not see), and an odd/ mystery gull that no one could ID.  I got photos of it and photos of the gull were posted by me and other birders on different forums such as North American Gulls and Whats This Bird on FB.  It seemed that no one was willing to definitively ID the gull and put their name on the line in case they mis-identified it.  Now, the gull has returned to Old Point recently and one birder who got excellent photos of it is sure that it is indeed a European Gull after examining all the feathers etc (something beyond my expertise since I don't know feather names.)  The rest of the local birders are agreeing with that ID so I will also.  This will be my "first" life bird for 2025 even though I saw it years ago.  In the meantime, there was another gull I saw that had lighter wings and lighter yellow legs.  I can't help but think it could be a Yellow Legged Gull since they both have the same "ugly mustard" yellow looking legs.  At the time, it was dismissed as an "odd" gull of a common local type, but when I have the chance I might go looking on my older SD camera cards and see if I have any more photos of it and also of this likely European Herring Gull.  I should point out that since 2022, herring gulls were one species/ 2 subspecies but have now been separated into 2 species - Atlantic and European.

Yard Birds/ Bird Feeder

 This morning when I brought the garbage cans back from the curb I saw a Blue Jay and Cardinal sitting in my Crape Myrtles on the side of my yard - they didn't seem bothered by me even though I was less than 10 feet away - I assume they found a nice spot to warm up since it was cold out - maybe they recognize me as "that big thing that puts food in the feeder for us"?  Later on, I saw some birds at the feeder - the usual but first time I saw Starlings.

Bohemian Waxwing - no

 I had some time in the morning before work so I decided to try again for the Bohemian Waxwing that was near Jones West End.  It hadn't been seen again but I gave it a shot anyway.  I didn't find any flocks of Robins that it had been associating with.  I did see a couple of flocks of Horned Larks on the median but no Lapland Longspurs.  I saw a few Ravens here and there.  The biggest highlight was actually Yellow Rumped Warblers - there was a group of them together by the Coast Guard hedgerow which I thought was unusual.

Bird Feeder in the yard again

 I decided to put bird seed in the feeder again, hoping to attract and see something rare in my yard.  The birds took to it quickly and already have seen an assortment of birds including: Juncos (first to notice the feeder), Blue Jays (second to notice), good amounts (4-5) of White Throated Sparrows, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Song Sparrow (assuming my resident), and House Sparrows.

Cardinals singing again

 I walked my son to the bus stop this morning and along the way heard 2 Cardinals singing in the neighborhood.  Nice to hear them - makes it seem like the start of the end of winter is here.