The Great

Wishing everyone on the Gregorian calendar a very Happy New Year and a great forthcoming 2025! Celebrating the holiday here with recent shots of Great Black-backed Gulls at Beach No. 11 @ Presque Isle State Park.

Unusually, there were at least seven Great Black-backed Gulls along the waterline, e.g., 5 are shown in the lovely shot above, along w/ Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. (More typically it’s one or two, frequently way out on the water or perched on a buoy.)

ID tips: black wings, very large (larger than Herring Gull), and light pink legs.

This shot is just American Coots & Ring-billed Gulls:

Dark bird with outstretched wings could be juvenile Herring Gull:

Mixed gulls including Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls:


[Editor’s note: “In 2024, ornithologists split the Herring Gull, found across much of the Northern Hemisphere, into four species: American Herring Gull, European Herring Gull, Mongolian Gull, and Vega Gull. The American Herring Gull breeds in Canada and the United States and spends the nonbreeding season as far south as Central America.” Good to know!]