ML616845446

Age and sex

Immature Unknown sex - 1

Observation details

Continuing species in the area since 2/9/24. --- Observed about 0.2 miles south of the Azure Street beach access. Possibly the same individual reported off and on since February 9, 2024 at Morro Strand State Beach and Morro Creek mouth. First ebird report: Carol Comeau: ebird.org/checklist/S161049908 See discussion below regarding two individuals.* Dark mantle; white forehead, chin and underparts; white eye arcs; brownish-gray smudges on crown, nape and sides of neck and upper beast; all black primaries extending past the tail; black bill with narrow red tip on the upper mandible; black legs. In flight showing the dark primaries and a thin white trailing edge on the wings; pale underwing coverts; white rump; tail is white in the center with black corners. Click on the image below for a Flickr video, showing the Laughing Gull mostly by itself on the beach, flying short distances a couple of times, but mostly undisturbed by people passing by: *Tom Edell (April 4, 2024): "Recent photos have shown that there are two Laughing Gull in the Morro Bay area. The bird Heather O’Connor photographed on the Morro Bay estuary from the marina boardwalk is not the same bird previously reported along Morro Strand State Beach. Heather’s Apr 1 photo (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616781351) from the Morro Bay State Park Marina boardwalk doesn‘t show brown in the wings while the Russ Namitiz’s photos on Mar 31 (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616768243) from Morro Creek mouth show a lot of brown in the wings. Also Jeff Millers photo from Morro Creek mouth on 30 Mar (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616781858) seems to lack or at least has a lot less brown in the wings. So it appears the bird Heather and Jeff photographed is bouncing back and forth between the estuary and Morro Creek mouth. I think the bird Ron Beck photographed from the boardwalk on Mar 8 (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/615793347) is the same bird Heather, Jeff and others have photographed. All of the prior photos this winter look like an obvious first cycle bird with brown in the wing coverts and on the head." "Both birds were likely hatched last year (other opinions welcome), but one’s molt is more advanced than the other. This is mainly based on Ann Stockert’s photos of the open wing (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616701616) showing a more advanced wing molt with only inner secondary greater covert feather replacement and messy looking median coverts (no replacement?) versus Russ’s spread wing photo (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/616768237) showing brown and gray feathers throughout the wing coverts."

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX70 HS

Lens

3.8-247mm

ISO

100

Focal length

247 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

4488 pixels x 2456 pixels

Original file size

2.23 MB