The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A1

THE SUN BALTIMORE LIGHT FOR ALL I) Informing more than 1 million Maryland readers weekly in print and online MONDAY Price $2. Our 181st year, No. 1 January 1, 2018 GOP sees danger in 2018 Democrats hope to win majorities in midterm elections By David Lauter Washington Bureau WASHINGTON The clock is ticking on the Republican majority in Congress: The GOP has just over 10 months to avoid a rout in 2018. Republicans could do it. They have time and several important factors on their side: a good economy, low crime rates, achievements of significance to the party's followers.

Republicans who think the map alone will save them have gotten a stern warning from Senate Majority KARL MERTON FERRONBALTIMORE SUN Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Carr (24) tumbles over cornerback Maurice Canady, unable to stop Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd, who scores the game-winning touchdown as the Bengals defeat the Ravens, 31-27. ARTICLE, SPORTS PG 2 A huge letdown' as fans see Ravens miss playoffs Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "The environment today is not great, the generic ballot's not good, and I'd love to see the president's approval rating higher," McConnell said in ayear-end interview with the Washington Examiner, a con Despite cold on New Year's Eve, those who turned out made themselves heard Donald Trump Fans clutched their hand-warmers and hot chocolate as the Bengals lined up for a fourth-and-12 on their own 49, out of timeouts with less than a minute to go in the game. With the defense looking dominant and most of the field in front of the Bengals, the game seemed in hand. Then on one 49-yard Bengals touchdown pass, the game fell apart.

The season, which the Ravens started by losing five of their first seven games, and which was marked by a polarizing debate over players kneeling for the national anthem, was over. The game "was awesome until the end," said Patrick Samad, 12. He hung around in the stands of the lower bowl with his father after the game. The Ravens fans made the nine-hour drive to Baltimore from Union, Ky, about 25 minutes outside Cincinnati. Even with the season over, they didn't seem to want to leave.

Beth Webster, bundled in several layers and a lined Carhartt suit, watched from See RAVENS, page 9 By Colin Campbell The Baltimore Sun Having stuck it out all game on a frigid New Year's Eve with the Ravens all but assured of a playoff spot, either by winning or by another team's loss the crowd at Bank Stadium instead watched the season end before midnight. Somer Feeheley who watched the game at the stadium with friends, said the loss didn't ruin her New Year's Eve. But the 23-year-old Bishopville woman couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. "We stood out in the cold for how long, just to be let down by that?" she asked. "It was worth waiting it out, but it's definitely a huge letdown, knowing we were going to the playoffs and now we can't go." While the swaths of empty seats that have plagued the Ravens' home games this servative publication.

"I think we should anticipate a real knockdown, drag-out even on the Senate side." As 2017 closes, almost all signs point toward big Democratic gains this year, largely driven by President Donald Trump's widespread unpopularity. And some of the pugnacious instincts that helped the president win election a year ago may now be worsening his party's difficulties. Midterm elections "are a referendum on the party in power," notes Sean Trende, political analyst for the Real Clear Politics website. During the Barack Obama years, Trende correctly forecast that Democrats had underestimated the potential of a surge of conservative white Americans voting Republican. Now, he says, Republicans are making a mistake in assuming that turnout will once again favor them in an off-year election.

Trump has "terrible numbers," Demo-See MIDTERMS, page 9 LLOYD FOX BALTIMORE SUN Even with a playoff spot on the line, the empty seats that have plagued the Ravens this year were visible on Sunday. season were still noticeable on Sunday, those in attendance made themselves heard. They hammered on the seats and hollered "Seven Nation Army," the unofficial team anthem, as the Ravens turned a lackluster first half around to pull ahead by a field goal in the fourth quarter. Bird count more than just a game SUMMARY OF THE NEWS As they have for a century, enthusiasts come out to track numbers for scientists $100 MILLION MILESTONE: The Goldseker Foundation has reached a milestone in its Baltimore community development efforts, announcing that it has distributed more than $100 million to 600 local groups and projects since it was founded in 1975. NEWS PG 2 1 4 TRUMP AND IRAN: As anti-government demonstrations in Iran heat up, Iran's leaders are casting President Donald Trump's expressions of support for demonstrators as meddling, painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns.

NEWS PG 4 FATAL SHOOTING IN DENVER: A sheriff's deputy was killed and four other deputies were wounded Sunday in a shooting in Denver that capped a year of deadly attacks in the United States. NEWS PG 4 BORDER CROSSINGS: Border Patrol agents in the Big Bend section of Texas have seen worrying increases in smuggling, attacks on immigration agents and deaths of immigrants. NEWS PG 8 By Talia Richman The Baltimore Sun Bundled in a thick coat and gloves, Gene Scarpulla raised his binoculars and peered out across the Chesapeake Bay. He spotted a great black-backed gull, the largest type of gull in the world, and yelled out. "Oh, how exciting," a fellow birder said, and did a little dance that seemed motivated by both delight and Sunday's frigid temperatures.

Bird enthusiasts around the world gather each year in the first few weeks of winter to take stock of the avian population in their regions. More than a century old, the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count is now one of the country's largest citizen science projects. The Anne Arundel Bird Club has sponsored a bird count in conjunction with the Audubon society since 1954. Dozens of people join together around Annapolis and Gibson Island on a December day to tally the different species flying around. This year's count took place in the 24 hours leading up to the New Year.

All bird counts this season will take place between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. More than two dozen were scheduled in Maryland this year. The Patuxent Bird Club's preliminary total number of species for the day is 101, though not all areas had reported.

The JERRY JACKSONBALTIMORE SUN Gene Scarpulla scans the sky over the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park on Sunday for the National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count. 10-year average for total species is 104. The highest total was 117 in 1975. The lowest total was 79 in 1967. Once the data is collected, researchers can use the early-winter bird census to track wildlife trends.

Bird count data has inspired more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and cities have used it in land-use and zoning decisions. It can help identify species that might be endangered or threatened by climate change, too. "Adding observations to more than a century of data helps scientists and conservationists observe trends that will help make our work more impactful," said Geoff LeBaron, Audubon's Christmas Bird Count director. Marcia Watson, Scarpulla's wife, doesn't need to look at the statistics to know there's been a change in the number of birds soaring across Anne Arundel County. The 65-year-old Bowie woman has participated in bird counts since 1990.

She says the skies and marshes near Sandy Point State Park, where she and other birders gathered Sunday, are emptier than they were when she started. See BIRDS, page 9 SUNNY, VERY COLD 24 9 HIGH LOW Sunny and cold Tuesday SPORTS PG 12 bridge sports 9 lottery news 3 horoscopes news 7 obituaries news 8 opinion news 10 puzzles sports sports 9, tonight on tv sports comics sports 10 classified sports 7.