Franklin's Gull - David Mathieu
Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Short Beach Park
Fairfield, Connecticut, United States
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 41.1648434, -73.1104136
Age and sex
Adult, Unknown sex - 1

Media notes

Taking flight. Note lighter underwing than LAGU.

Observation details

*At first one, an adult found this morning by Frank Mantlik. Then a second, first summer bird first noted as an interesting additional candidate by Julian. Both well studied for over an hour before they took flight and landed near Milford Pt. State bird times two! Adult bird present when I arrived. Clearly smaller than Laughing Gull with noticeably shorter legs. Distinct black hood and prominent white eye arcs (even more obvious when bird had head tucked and was resting). Bill shorter than Laughing Gull, giving the bird a more cute look with rounded head. When light improved, the reddish tone to the bill could be seen. Mantle similar shade similar to Laughing. The large white spots (tips) on the primaries really stood out on this bird. Also a nice pink wash to the belly. While I was looking at the adult Franklin's, Julian noticed another possible candidate, this one an immature individual, out on the south end of the exposed tidal flats. He got me on it quickly and we studied it pretty extensively as it slowly worked its way to the north end of the flat, closer to the adult bird. What stood out at first glance was its smaller size in comparison to the Laughing Gulls (more compact body and shorter legs, giving it more of a "dumpy" look). Next was the dark black incomplete hood and contrasting wide white eye arcs. There were also small white tips to the primaries (but they were smaller and not nearly as noticeable as on the adult). A broad white trailing edge to secondaries and inner primaries was noted in flight and while preening. When lighting improved, the legs appeared to have a reddish tinge. The bill appeared to be darker (black) than the adult. The two birds eventually ended up next to each other, making their similar size obvious and providing a good comparison with a bunch of Laughing Gulls on the flats around them. Overall, a great field study!

Additional species

Technical information

Model
NIKON D7100
ISO
800
Focal length
480 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire
f-stop
f/7.1
Shutter speed
1/1000 sec
Dimensions
1363 pixels x 909 pixels
Original file size
184.82 KB