Learned a valuable birding lesson yesterday: always bring your camera. I found a bird that looked very good for a 2nd or 3rd cycle MEW GULL yesterday but since I have no photo, I have no documentation or help with the ID. That's the 2nd bird in 2 weeks that I have needed a photo to document and have not been able to get one.
  I went back to North Point Marina to find the bird but was not able to do so. I did see at least 3 THAYER'S GULLS and 1 ICELAND GULL, however. I wasn't able to find the Purple Sandpiper, but Greg Neise found it later. Birding can be a very frustrating avocation at times.
 Tomorrow I will make a concentrated effort to find the sandpiper.
 I also was able to finally, after searching NE IL for 2 weeks, find a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK at Singing Hills FP in Wauconda.