ML111279211

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Third-summer Herring Gull photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 11 August 2018 at the Whitewater River delta, north end Salton Sea, Riverside County, California.

Observation details

I spotted this bird standing with other gulls on the shoreline at the river mouth, where it allowed a moderately close approach for careful study and a nice set of photos as it stood with the other birds. I never saw this bird in flight, or even to spread its wings, and I did not see it when the flock took flight. This was a relatively large gull that was noticeably larger and heavier-bodied than the California Gulls, and it had a longer and stouter bill. I noted that the primaries extended well beyond the tertials and probably also the tail, but I did not note this carefully. This bird’s plumage patterns were typical of an advanced, third-summer gull, with the head, neck, and underparts white, but also with what appeared to be a somewhat scruffy appearance to the head and neck. The back and closed wings were a lighter shade of gray than those of the California Gulls, but probably not too different from the Ring-billed Gulls, and even though I failed to notice any brown in the back or wings, I did think both had a worn and somewhat scruffy appearance. I also noted that the exposed primary tips were black. I was unable to discern any white spots in the wingtips, but I am less sure that they were definitely lacking, and I never clearly saw the tail. The eyes were pale (if not whitish), but I unable to make out the color of the orbital ring, and the legs and webbed feet were conspicuously pink. I noted in the field that the bill was pale with a dusky band near the tip, but my photos further show that the bill was mostly a pale pinkish color with the distal part extensively dark and the very tip again pale.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/3200 sec

Dimensions

1921 pixels x 1306 pixels

Original file size

3.24 MB