ML152458041
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult, Unknown sex - X
Media notes
Adult Black-legged Kittiwake photographed on the rocks off the beach by Curtis A. Marantz on 14 April 2019 at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Malibu, Los Angeles County, California.
Observation details
I spotted this bird standing alone on the rocks exposed at low tide just west of the lagoon, where it remained until flushed by some dogs just before I was able to get a good photo. Shortly later, I relocated the kittiwake sitting on the rocks with a flock of terns just south of the lagoon, where it remained long enough for me to approach it and get some good photos, yet it had vanished when I looked back at the flock a half-hour later (though I did not expend much effort looking for it at this time). I was therefore able to get good views of the perched bird at close range and I briefly saw it in flight when it flew down the beach. This was a small gull that had a medium-length bill, a rounded head, a plump body, relatively long wings, a short tail, legs that seemed short even for a gull, and conspicuously webbed feet. The bill was relatively slim throughout its length and with a culmen that was straight up until the point that it curved smoothly downward maybe two-thirds of the way to the blunt tip. I further the lack of an obvious angle at the gonys and that the bill would have extended backward on the face to a point near the rear edge of the auriculars. The forehead was quite steep, and the crown was strongly yet smoothly rounded on a head that was unremarkable in size. The neck was relatively short and stout, and the body was plump, full-chested, and with a posture that was more upright than horizontal but not quite diagonal. The wings were long, with the tapered wingtips reaching some distance beyond the tip of the tail, and a primary projection that appeared to be comparable to the entire length of the exposed tertials. Although the tail was mostly obscured by the wingtips when the bird was on land, I thought it was short and square-tipped when the bird was in flight. I thought this bird’s legs were conspicuously short even for a gull, and they also seemed to be relatively slim. The feet were fully webbed between the front three toes, but I did not see a hind toe. This bird’s plumage patterns were essentially typical of an adult gull apart from a few unique anomalies. The head, neck, and underparts were white and unmarked for the most part; however, I did note a rounded smudge of blackish on the auriculars that was reminiscent of that of a Bonaparte’s Gull but larger and less sharply defined. Further apparent was a diffuse wash of light gray on the back of the neck that was far more subtle than what I would have expected on a young kittiwake. Contrasting with the white of the neck and underparts, the back and wings were light gray and seemingly unmarked apart from a white crescent that separated the tertials from the black wingtips. Beyond this crescent the exposed wingtips appeared to be almost entirely black, but I did think the inner feather or two had a narrow edge of white visible just beyond the “tertial crescent.” I was able to see only a small portion of the tail when the bird was on land, but what I saw appeared to be entirely white. Finally, when I saw this bird in flight I noted that the back and wings were gray, that this bird lacked a dark carpal-bar, that the wingtips were uniformly black and sharply demarcated from the gray that characterized most of the wing, and that the tail was white. I cannot remember noting specifically the lack of tail band, but my impression was that the tail was white to the tip. The bill was an odd, yellowish-green in color form the base to the tip, and it clearly lacked red or black markings. I noted that the eyes were dark, but their precise color eluded me. The legs and webbed feet were essentially black, but maybe with a faint purple suffusion in good light.
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/9.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/1250 sec
- Dimensions
- 3785 pixels x 2510 pixels
- Original file size
- 9.38 MB