ML152457931
Contribuidor
Fecha
Localidad
- Edad y sexo
- Adulto, sexo desconocido - X
Comentarios
Adult Black-legged Kittiwake photographed on the rocks off the beach by Curtis A. Marantz on 14 April 2019 at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Malibu, Los Angeles County, California.
Detalles de la observación
I spotted this bird standing alone on the rocks exposed at low tide just west of the lagoon, where it remained until flushed by some dogs just before I was able to get a good photo. Shortly later, I relocated the kittiwake sitting on the rocks with a flock of terns just south of the lagoon, where it remained long enough for me to approach it and get some good photos, yet it had vanished when I looked back at the flock a half-hour later (though I did not expend much effort looking for it at this time). I was therefore able to get good views of the perched bird at close range and I briefly saw it in flight when it flew down the beach. This was a small gull that had a medium-length bill, a rounded head, a plump body, relatively long wings, a short tail, legs that seemed short even for a gull, and conspicuously webbed feet. The bill was relatively slim throughout its length and with a culmen that was straight up until the point that it curved smoothly downward maybe two-thirds of the way to the blunt tip. I further the lack of an obvious angle at the gonys and that the bill would have extended backward on the face to a point near the rear edge of the auriculars. The forehead was quite steep, and the crown was strongly yet smoothly rounded on a head that was unremarkable in size. The neck was relatively short and stout, and the body was plump, full-chested, and with a posture that was more upright than horizontal but not quite diagonal. The wings were long, with the tapered wingtips reaching some distance beyond the tip of the tail, and a primary projection that appeared to be comparable to the entire length of the exposed tertials. Although the tail was mostly obscured by the wingtips when the bird was on land, I thought it was short and square-tipped when the bird was in flight. I thought this bird’s legs were conspicuously short even for a gull, and they also seemed to be relatively slim. The feet were fully webbed between the front three toes, but I did not see a hind toe. This bird’s plumage patterns were essentially typical of an adult gull apart from a few unique anomalies. The head, neck, and underparts were white and unmarked for the most part; however, I did note a rounded smudge of blackish on the auriculars that was reminiscent of that of a Bonaparte’s Gull but larger and less sharply defined. Further apparent was a diffuse wash of light gray on the back of the neck that was far more subtle than what I would have expected on a young kittiwake. Contrasting with the white of the neck and underparts, the back and wings were light gray and seemingly unmarked apart from a white crescent that separated the tertials from the black wingtips. Beyond this crescent the exposed wingtips appeared to be almost entirely black, but I did think the inner feather or two had a narrow edge of white visible just beyond the “tertial crescent.” I was able to see only a small portion of the tail when the bird was on land, but what I saw appeared to be entirely white. Finally, when I saw this bird in flight I noted that the back and wings were gray, that this bird lacked a dark carpal-bar, that the wingtips were uniformly black and sharply demarcated from the gray that characterized most of the wing, and that the tail was white. I cannot remember noting specifically the lack of tail band, but my impression was that the tail was white to the tip. The bill was an odd, yellowish-green in color form the base to the tip, and it clearly lacked red or black markings. I noted that the eyes were dark, but their precise color eluded me. The legs and webbed feet were essentially black, but maybe with a faint purple suffusion in good light.
Información técnica
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 320
- Focal length
- 255 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/8.0
- Shutter speed
- 1/1600 sec
- Dimensions
- 4450 pixels x 2937 pixels
- Original file size
- 9.82 MB