I enjoyed a gorgeous early summer morning today at Biddeford Pool. I began at Hatties (5 lingering Black-bellied Plovers), and then over to East Point where a half-hour of seawatching produced 6 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and 28 Northern Gannets. An inspection of the shoreline around the peninsula produced a White-winged Scoter, two Black Scoters, 2 Green Herons at Great Pond, and a fly-over Fish Crow. 2 American Oystercatchers were preening off Vine’s Landing as well. Considering there are only 3-4 pairs of this nifty bird in the state, they are always a treat to see.

Then, I headed over to Hill’s Beach, just as the tide began to roll in. The incoming tide here usually produces the best birding, and it did not disappoint today. I just kicked off my shoes and spent about 2 hours wandering around the sand flats and shallow pools of water. I studied Bonaparte’s Gulls – all first or second cycle plumages, but there’s a huge range of variation within these age groups, and enjoyed the handful of roosting terns (mostly Common, but at least two Roseate as well). I played around with some digiscoping, snapping handfuls of pictures here and there.

With the water rising, I decided to move on, but then a small gull flew by that was clearly not a Bonaparte’s. Small, chunkier, and with rounded-wing tips. Little Gull! And, just to echo my excitement, it called a few times, and I’m not sure if I’ve heard this species vocalize before. Very small numbers of Little Gulls are annual in Maine each year, but it’s been a while since I have seen one - and I am really a big fan of Little Gulls. One (this bird, no doubt) was found here about a week ago, so it was certainly something I was looking for today.

Of course, however, it waited until I was half way back to my car to show up, and of course it flew to the farthest sandbar. It landed near some roosting Bonaparte’s Gulls, and I just had to turn around and attempt a few photos. Happily, it was much obliging. I was able to digiscoped the following pictures, which came out alright (I could have used some cloud cover, however!).

I spent most of my time attempting to get shots of it next to a Bonaparte’s Gull for nice, direct comparison, but this effort failed.

Part of the problem was that whenever the Little Gull got close to a “Bonie,” the larger Bonie would peck at it. The little guy always gets picked on!

Here’s a photo of a 1st Cycle Bonaparte’s Gull, with almost no black on its head.

And, here’s a couple of the Common Terns.

Since the water was now rather high, I elected to follow the Basket Island sandbar back up to the road to get back to my car. This choice was rewarded with a flyover Evening Grosbeak – a most unexpected surprise, flying east, just over tree-level.