Hello, I decided to hunt down some of the rarer small, hooded gulls in the state on my day off. On my way to Old Saybrook, I stopped at Oyster River in West Haven around 9am. I found 12 Bonaparte's Gulls as the tide fell. I probably should have stayed put but I continued east. I arrived at the Fenwick Golf Course in Old Saybrook around 10 am. While scanning the river for small gulls I saw a Tom Wild Turkey attempt to fly across the mouth of the Connecticut River(more on that event later). Old Saybrook-10am-2pm(joined by many birders throughout my stay). Bonaparte's Gull- 147 at Low tide 12:55pm, 196 was High count around 1:15pm. Only 15% of the Bonaparte's Gulls were first winter birds. After giving up on the Little/Black-headed Gull search, I headed back west. I combed Sherwood Island SP for the Longspur from 4:00-5:00pm. My results at the model airplane field and surrounding grassy areas: Wilson's Snipe-8 Killdeer-13 Eastern Meadowlark-1 West pond(6:00-6:15pm) Gadwall- 200 Black Duck-70 American Wigeon-250 Eurasian Wigeon-1 Green-winged Teal-6 Osprey-1 on nest platform Nyala Farm(6:20-6:30pm) Wilson's Snipe-6 Connecticut Audubon Society's Christmas Tree Farm preserve(6:35-6:50pm) Fox Sparrow-1 singing with many Songs and many calling White-throated Sparrows Southport Beach-Mouth of Sasco Creek(6:50-7:10PM) Bonaparte's Gulls-13 preening and bathing then dispersing west to mystery roosting locale. Ring-billed Gull-250( at least 2 adults had a nice pink blush on breast from a carotenoid rich diet?) Herring-Gull- 70 Great Black-backed Gull- 10 mostly subadults. Last but definitely not least, as I got out of my car at home on Bronson Road in Fairfield I was graced by the delicate twittering flight display of an American Woodcock in my back lawn. A great new yard bird to cap off a fulfilling day on the coast of Connecicut. Good birding to all, E.J. Raynor Fairfield, CT Photo site: www.pbase.com/ether9