I knew it was going to be a good morning at Noblewood Park in
Willsboro, NY today (28 August 2004) when I arrived to find Ted Mack and
Sean O'Brien in the parking area.  When we arrived at the spit at the mouth
of the Boquet, Ted immediately spotted a group of shorebirds working along
the lake edge.  This group included:

2 Baird's Sandpipers--beautiful juveniles with a buffy wash across the
breast, a fresh, scaly look on the back, and the classic long-winged look
of this species
3 Sanderlings--very worn-looking adults
2 Semipalmated Sandpipers--providing nice comparisons with the Baird's
Sandpipers
3 Least Sandpipers
2 Semipalmated Plovers--one adult breeding, and one juvenile

      There were not many Bonaparte's Gulls on the spit when we first got
there, but while we were enjoying the shorebirds, we saw a good number of
Bonaparte's come in and land.  Eventually, I would estimate that there were
about 200 BONAPARTE'S GULLS altogether.  Since Ted and Sean had come to
Noblewood in part in the hope of seeing Little Gull, I felt compelled to
work through the gulls.  Usually, the Bonaparte's Gulls stay apart from the
larger gulls (Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed), but today they
were packed in tightly with a number of Ring-billed Gulls, making it very
difficult to see the small gulls clearly.  At one point, I thought that I
saw a small-headed, small-billed gull (i.e. a Little Gull), but it became
obscured before I could even show it to Ted and Sean.  Eventually, I
refound this individual, and it was in fact a LITTLE GULL; the head and
bill were clearly smaller than those of surrounding Bonaparte's Gulls, and
it had a fairly discrete blackish cap in addition to a black eye spot
behind each eye.  As I was about to pass off the scope to Sean or Ted, the
bird took flight, revealing blackish underwings, light gray upperwings, a
white trailing edge on the upperwing, and a white tail.  Unfortunately, the
Little Gull flew south (with tern-like wingbeats) over the lake, and did
not return while we were there.

      In addition to the gulls present, three terns eventually appeared on
the spit as well--two COMMON TERNS (one adult and one juvenile) and one
adult CASPIAN TERN.  The only other bird of note was an OSPREY soaring over
the river mouth when we first arrived.  As we left, we noticed several logs
on the north (far) side of the river with basking turtles.  A quick count
yielded 15 COMMON MAP TURTLES and at least two PAINTED TURTLES.

Good birding,
Matt Medler
Willsboro, NY
For more information about Noblewood Park, visit:
http://www.albany.net/~cardinal/Noblewood/Noblewood.htm