ML111575151
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Immature Unknown sex - X
Media notes
Second summer Lesser-black Backed Gull found and photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 18 August 2018 at the Whitewater River delta, north end Salton Sea, Riverside County, California.
Observation details
When I initially spotted this bird standing on the flats at the river mouth I took a few photos without looking at the bird too carefully and passing it off as an odd-looking immature Yellow-footed Gull, but based on a closer look the second time I saw this bird sitting on the water just off these same flats I quickly realized my earlier error and any question about the bird’s identity should be clarified by my photos. Although this bird was noticeably larger than nearby California Gulls, it had longer wings than do either Western or Yellow-footed Gulls, given that the wingtips extended well beyond the tip of the tail. I also thought the bill was slimmer than that of a Yellow-footed Gull. As such, this bird’s shape overall was not unlike that of a California Gull, given a relatively slim bill, a sloping forehead and a rounded crown on a head of unremarkable size for a gull, a medium-length neck, a plump and full-chested body with a horizontal posture that was accentuated by the long wings. This bird’s plumage patterns were generally typical of one of the dark-backed gulls in its second year. The head and neck were mostly white, yet I noted fine, dark streaking on the crown and to at least some degree the auriculars. Further apparent were dusky markings on the back and sides of the neck that were rather coarse at the sides of the breast near the shoulder, but I thought the belly and flanks were more uniformly white with what I recall as minimal markings on the flanks. Contrasting sharply with the whitish neck and underparts, the mantle was slate-gray in color and the wing coverts were dark brown with an uneven appearance the details of which I failed to note in the field. The tertials were likewise dark, but I cannot now recall their pattern or even the extent of a paler tertial-crescent. The exposed primaries extending beyond the tertials appeared to be black and unmarked. I cannot recall noting anything about the rump or tail when the bird was on the ground or in the water, but when I was taking photos after this bird took flight I noted a mostly white rump that contrasted sharply with both the dark back and a mostly white tail even though I failed to notice if the base of the tail was white or barred. The bill was mostly black, but with the tip, at least part of the culmen, and maybe some of the base contrasting as a pale, horn in color. I also noted irides that appeared to be a medium-gray color and thus a little darker than I may have expected of an older bird. My recollection of the legs and feet is pretty fuzzy, but I think they were flesh colored, and I think the feet were webbed.
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/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/1600 sec
- Dimensions
- 1875 pixels x 1204 pixels
- Original file size
- 2.72 MB