Little Gull in Milford, CT

Any day with a Little Gull is a good day. So, today was a good day.

I arrived at the mouth of the Oyster River this morning to find just a handful of Bonaparte's Gulls on the exposed flats. Soon, though, a stream of Bonies began to arrive with a basic-plumaged adult LITTLE GULL among them. While most of the flock settled in after bathing, the flock took flight and the Little Gull plus a few of the Bonies peeled off and flew westward down the coast.

A couple hours later I was able to relocate the bird with Tina Green and Jory Teltser (life bird for Jory!) just around the corner at Merwin Point. The bird was plankton feeding among a rather distant mixed flock of gulls.

There were at least 200 Bonaparte's Gulls in the immediate area this morning, which is up from a few days ago. It is clear that Bonaparte's are currently widespread yet scattered along the central and western Connecticut coast, and they are likely moving around quite a bit. Finding them can be a bit of a crapshoot. I think we may have been a tad lucky to relocate that bird today after it left the mouth of the river.

Ducks were also well-represented between this area and Milford Point, where most of the expected species were seen, plus scarcer ones like NORTHERN SHOVELER and NORTHERN PINTAIL.

 - NB

Comments

  1. That is a cute gull! I am learning about the different gulls from your posts! Thank you for sharing the pictures!

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