After arriving at West Point and finding good numbers (at least for inland Georgia) of Forster's Terns, Bonaparte's and Ring-billed Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants and a few Herring Gulls, I decided to check below the dam.  Upon arriving at the observation platform, I noticed a swirling flock of about 50 Bonapartes, and with them, one small-sized and light-mantled gull with a dark underwing pattern which had me stunned for a few seconds in disbelief, even though I nonchalantly whispered to myself "Huh...a LITTLE GULL."

I watched the bird for a total of approximately twenty minutes before leaving the area. The bird showed several characteristics of a typical adult Little Gull, most notably the clean light gray mantle without any trace of black in the wing tipsl, and dark smudges around the eye and on the auriculars, a dark cap and lighter charcoal gray wash to the nape and sides of the neck.  The underwings were mostly dark, almost black, with the exception of the wing linings, which seemed to be much paler in comparison to the rest of the underwing and the trailing edge of the flight feathers which were broadly bordered with white.  The pale wing linings lead me to believe that this individual could possibly be a second winter bird.  Adult Little Gulls typically have very dark wing linings, and according to Grant, second winter birds do not always exhibit reduced black markings in the wing tips.

This individual is the second documented occurrence for the species in Georgia, and the first inland Georgia record.  The first documented state record was a bird found on Jekyll Island in May, 1995, by Malcolm Hodges and Terry and Marion Schiefer.

Reference: 
Grant, P. J., 1986.  Gulls - A Guide to Identification.

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