| When scanning flocks of perched gulls, one of the most important things to look for is a different mantle color. The darker gull in the middle is a typical adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, one of 5 Lessers that we found amid some 20,000 Ring-billeds. |
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| This slightly lighter individual in this flock is another (different) Lesser Black-backed Gull. This one particularly caught our attention because it's less dark than most Lessers. |  |
| Here's a close-up of the same bird (middle, facing straight away). From this angle, note that the mantle color is barely darker than the adjacent Ring-billed Gulls. |  |
| Here's the same individual from a different angle. While the mantle looks does look darker at this angle, it's still not as dark as a typical adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. |  |
| Immature Herring Gulls amid Ring-billeds. Typical 1st-year on left and 2nd-year on right. |
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| Although this is a lousy picture, it's the best I was able to get of the adult California Gull (right center), due to the very overcast conditions and distance. Harry first picked this gull out of the crowd because he noticed it's very slightly darker mantle color (much lighter than Lesser Black-backed Gull). We then confirmed the sighting by noting through our scopes the dark eye, grayish legs, body size larger Ring-billed but smaller than Herring, long-winged & long-billed appearance, and yellowish bill with a black smudge near the tip and a red smudge just basal to the black smudge. As far as we know, this constitutes the first inland record of California Gull in NC. | |
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Created on ... January 27, 2005 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com