ML140267281

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Lesser Black-backed Gull at Black Road pasture and pond west of Santa Maria, CA

Observation details

I met Conor and Julie at the Black Road pasture after receiving a message about a possible Lesser Black-backed Gull they had been looking at. After several minutes of scoping through all the gulls, it was located along the east shoreline of the pond. It was picked out by its very pale or whitish head and neck with contrasting all black bill. The bill looked rather straight and not especially large. It had a grayish area on the cheek below the eye. The lower belly and sides were marked with grayish spots at the sides of the neck and larger mottling along the sides and on the belly. It was intermediate in size somewhere between Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull and was approximately the same size as a California Gull of which there were many nearby for direct comparison. It moved around and stood in profile for a short time where it showed fairly long wings extending beyond the end of the tail. Upperpart and wing patterning was noticeably checkered dark brown. Leg color was dull pinkish. Eventually, the bird flew and the large blackish tail band was seen. Upper wing pattern showed two dark bars and the primaries were very dark and nearly blackish. The bird returned to the water and wandered to the grass where it stood for a time and then settled down to roost. Total viewing time was about 45 minutes.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

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

ISO

250

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/10.0

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

2000 pixels x 1333 pixels

Original file size

876.82 KB