Luke's Birding Pages

January 16, 2006

Venice Beach State Park, Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County, California

Spending the morning at Venice Beach, Webb Smith and I managed to find several interesting candidates, including a third-year that I've put a few shots of on another page. Todd Easterla was working his way up the beach when David Vander Pluym and Oscar Johnson rolled up. We began scoping a far-off group of gulls, and Oscar and I quickly landed on this gull, the one Ron Thorn found January 13 and photographed by Al Jaramillo here. Luckily, when it flushed it landed very close to us on the beach.

These shots are slightly soft, but show the fine streaking in the head and larger streaks around the throat and nape.

Check out the photo on the right below, perhaps one of the few times Heermann's Gull has been in the same frame as Slaty-backed Gull.

This is the only open wing shot I got.

The tail was bright white.

Photographs © Luke W. Cole

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