ML574393421

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

****MEGA, first state record! Subadult, apparently 2nd cycle molting into alternate, sitting on east breakwall with gull flock. Smallish gull, only slightly lankier than nearby Ring-billed and much smaller than Herring. First stood out as it was tucked in sleeping by dark blackish-gray mantle, and I assumed it would be a Lesser Black-backed. Once I got the scope on it, I realized what it was when I saw the striking white head with grayish flecking and bright red bill with darker tip. Eventually it stood up, revealing the charcoal gray underparts and making it stand out a lot better. It continued in the same area of the breakwall, straight across from the parking lot, for most of the afternoon, only occasionally flying up when nearby gulls flushed or when an eagle came by. At 14:30 it took off and headed east with a few other gulls, staying rather high and eventually lost in the shimmer against the hillside. I finally had to leave, but thankfully it returned to the same spot 30 or so minutes later. When it was on the breakwall, it alternated between lying down, occasionally with head tucked but usually not for long, and just standing up. Once it tried to cough up a pellet or something for a minute or so, and then casually pecked at some of the nearby plants, but in general it was quite sedentary. Even when it flew off, it wasn't clear whether it was going out to forage or just wandering aimlessly.

Technical information

Model

SM-G996B

ISO

50

Focal length

5.4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.8

Shutter speed

39/10000 sec

Dimensions

1578 pixels x 1183 pixels

Original file size

281.05 KB