Heading over to the beautiful Pacific Ocean near the town of Half Moon Bay, California, at Venice Beach and the mouth of Frenchman’s Creek, from a couple weeks ago:
Next, lots of gulls @ takeoff from the beach:
The reason for gull agitation – a passing Bald Eagle:
Good opportunity for gull spotting. In addition to Herring Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls, here’s a Glaucous-winged Gull. Note the medium-gray wings, lack of black wing tips, pink legs, and white wing-end ‘dotting:’
Here’s some rather dark-winged gulls. First up, the gull @ bottom center left with yellow legs. Based on leg color and medium gray wings, this is a California Gull. (Back east, Lesser Black-backed Gull would be an option, but that’s a rare species out west.) The gull up and to the right w/ pink legs and very dark wings = Western Gull. Note in particular the spot of white on the outer primaries by the wing tip:
With a mottled brown-gray appearance and lack of dark wing tips, the gull at center is probably an immature Iceland Gull. (Iceland Gulls much more common @ Pacific coast than Great Lakes area.)
Finally, a male Surf Scoter in the surf. (Many more Surf Scoter pictures to follow soon!)
