ML65312641
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Immature Unknown sex - X
Media notes
This first-summer Lesser Black-backed Gull was found and photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 2 August 2017 along the shoreline of the Salton Sea off the west end of Sinclair Road, Imperial County, California.
Observation details
While scanning the flock of gulls on the flats off the west end of Sinclair Road I spotted this bird standing among a flock that was composed primarily of California Gulls. We then studied this bird carefully and I took some photos, albeit from a distance at which it was difficult to notice some of the finer details. Unlike the California Gulls, which are presumably more accustomed to warm weather, this bird had its moth open the entire time, suggesting that it had a harder time adjusting to the warm, humid conditions. This bird was still present when we left, so we never saw it in flight or even to spread its wings. This was a medium-sized gull that was a bit larger than nearby California Gulls yet similar in shape with a relatively slim bill of medium-length, a relatively rounded head, a short neck, plump body, and conspicuously long wings with narrowly tapered wingtips that appeared to extend beyond the tip of the tail. The legs were of medium-length but I never clearly saw the feet. This bird stood out immediately among the other birds in the flock as a result of its being a young gull with relatively fresh plumage that included a back and wings that were darker than those evident on the other birds. The head and neck were mostly white, yet with a dusky smudge through the auriculars and coarse, dark markings at the side of the breast. The underparts were also mostly white, but there may have been additional markings along the flanks that I failed to notice specifically. The mantle and scapulars were a bit darker than medium-gray, and at least some of the feathers had internal markings that appeared to combine a dark shaft with a crossbar somewhere near the tip of each feather to produce a complex pattern to the back. The wing coverts were dark brown and with a mottled or uneven appearance that I had a difficult time characterizing. The greater coverts and tertials were relatively dark but not black, and they were separated from the black primary-tips by a paler tertial-crescent. The overall appearance of this bird was therefore one that contrasted the white of the head, neck, and underparts, with the relatively dark shades of the back and wings, albeit with the latter showing complex patterns that combined gray, brown, and black. The bill appeared to be mostly black, but I thought I detected some pale coloration along the cutting edges of the mandible and at the tip, the eyes were a medium-gray in color, and the legs were conspicuously pink, but I never clearly saw the feet.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 500
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/800 sec
- Dimensions
- 695 pixels x 484 pixels
- Original file size
- 305.88 KB