ML53772481

Age and sex

Adult, Unknown sex - X

Observation details

Found by Eric and Elaine Tipton on 15 Feb; this is the second county record for San Bernardino, the previous one being an adult "near Chino" 9 Jan 2002 (NAB 56:224). I first re-found this gull this morning at Swim Beach in Meadow Park by itself, but its dark gray mantle was immediately obvious, and I was able to confirm its identity after observing its pale irides and yellow legs and feet. It eventually flew to Pine Knot Landing, and between the two locations I was able to study and photograph it for about 30 minutes. It was never directly adjacent to other gulls for direct comparison, but it was clearly larger than the Ring-billed Gulls and similar in size to the California Gull that were present. The head and under parts were essentially white, with the mantle (back and upper wing coverts) dark gray, the outer primaries black with white tips, and a white tail. The head had fine dusky streaking, mostly concentrated on the crown and behind the eyes and on the sides of the neck. The bill was about 3/4 the length of the head, and of relatively even depth from the base to the gonys; it was yellow with a red tip to the lower mandible and a large black spot on the lower mandible at or just posterior to the gonys. The irides were whitish or very pale yellowish in color, surrounded by a narrow red orbital ring. The dark gray of mantle was darker than that of the California Gulls present, and uniform except for a broad white crescent at the tips of the tertials and a narrower white scapular crescent. When perched I could see three black primaries with broad white tips that extended just beyond the tip of the tail. I thought this short-winged appearance was unusual until I noticed in flight photos that the bird was molting its outer two primaries (as well as some outer secondaries). The legs and feet were yellow. This appears to be an adult in basic (winter) plumage with a suspended pre-basic molt.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T3i

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

400

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/14.0

Shutter speed

1/1600 sec

Dimensions

1127 pixels x 907 pixels

Original file size

697.23 KB