ML34619031

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

1st winter bird. Body was solid gray and smooth, no sign of scallops or any feather patterning on the front, wings, or back. Tail and wing tips appeared darker overall than body. With head lifted, the head was also solid gray, with some paler feathering on the nape, mostly flecking. The bill was bi-colored, pink with a black tip. Legs appeared black, while pink, gray-blue, and yellow-green legs could be made out on surrounding gulls. Was slightly smaller than California Gulls nearby, and about the same size as several Ring-billed Gulls near. In flight the bird appeared entirely dark from tail to base of bill--this bird was uniform gray and had NO BROWN OR CHOCOLATE COLORATION, unlike the nearby 1st winter California Gulls which stood out as dark chocolate in coloration. I couldn't make out any white in flight and watched the bird circle the beach once, before flying directly away to the east. After Jeff initially spotted the bird we watched it for 15 minutes hoping it would lift its head--we noted the color and smooth overall appearance of the bird. I think we both kept trying to talk ourselves out Heermann's for the much more common 1st winter California. However, with at least 2 dark chocolate colored 1st winter California Gulls in the vicinity it was easy to see the obvious differences in plumage even at a distances of 400-500 yards. The overall gray tones of this bird were lighter than the dark chocolate color of Cali's and the lack of various speckling and a mix-of light and dark patches of feathers were easy to see when the sun hit the birds. Jeff eventually worked his way within a couple 100 yards of the birds while I watched from a distance. He confirmed that the appearance of the gull was not a figment of the distance, and it was indeed very smooth and gray --with not obvious visible feather patterns. Eventually something sent the birds to a frenzy and all the birds with heads tucked were soon standing alert--where the head and bill could be seen, showing the pink bill with black tip along with the gray head. The birds took flight and I watched as it circled and flew off looking for any sign of light feathering--of which there was none.

Technical information

Dimensions

576 pixels x 432 pixels

Original file size

44.21 KB