Today in Western NY I saw a gull out on the ice, about 150' away. It had a large dark object that didn't look like a fish. I got my binoculars out and saw a dark object about the size of a hot dog, only it had 4 legs! The gull struggled a while to get it oriented, and then swallowed it. If it were warmer out, I might have guessed it was a newt, but I don't think there are many newts out in a lake that is 99.9% frozen over. (both of my neighbors have bubblers, so I have a small part of the 0.1% that isn't frozen...) Though 15 years ago I saw a salamander out in the snow while I was skiing, so I guess it is possible.
Newt? If not, then what?