Brandon Holden Photography

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New California Gull at Waterdown

As more and more birders also become photographers, rarities can be documented with far more detail than what can typically be seen from a normal observation through a scope or binoculars. On April 1st, 2008 I had a great example of this.

After spending several hours walking around the Waterdown Garden Supplies, I was getting ready to leave, when I spotted "thee" adult California Gull, which had been hanging around the area for a few weeks. The bird was always very difficult to find amongst the mass of migrant Ring-billed Gulls, so it wasn't at all unusual that I hadn't seen the bird until now (after 3-4 hours of looking).

I did a slow approach, moving a few steps closer at a time, while snapping images and waiting to see if the bird would stretch or take flight. Once in range for images, I only had to wait a short while for the bird to take flight, which allowed me to take some flight shots. Happy with what I got, I decided to leave to a new birding location! It wasn't until I got home, 4-5 hours later, that I sat down at my computer and reviewed the images. Below are two flight images of the bird:

 

 

In all aspects, the bird seems to be a typical "albertaensis" California Gull, which is what the first March California Gull was identified as. A common feature of albertaensis is to have an all-white tip to the last primary (P10). Not all have it, but a large number. I remember the first bird showing this feature, but wait? The bird I took pictures of today seems to have. A black spot near the end of P10, breaking up the all white-tip. Could they be different birds? Or did I forget the mid-march bird actually had some black as well? All I had to do, was make a quick check of my images from mid-march. A few seconds later, I was quite sure I had photographic evidence that showed there is actually two birds involved! See below for two images showing the difference between each bird:

 

APRIL 1st BIRD (listed as "Today", since image was created April 1st)

MID-March Bird Below

 

After looking at many more images, there was some other obvious differences including feather wear, and pattern of the black/white area on the wingtips. I am quite certain that I would not have noticed that the bird on April 1st, was a new individual vs. the one seen in March. Since this species is rare in Hamilton, the though of TWO seemed rather unlikely, especially at the same location and only a few days apart. At the same time, when you're not expecting something like this, you might not bother do do a close examination and wouldn't even think to look at details that might lead you to believe that there were two birds involved.

In the end, it was a study of pictures several hours later that lead to the realization. With short views of birds in the field, it becomes even harder to notice details. A few images taken however, and the observer has a much longer chance to study fine details! I find this is especially helpful when dealing with a complex group of birds such as gulls.

Below is one last image of the April 1st California Gull:

 

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