Cal Gulls from Every Angle

Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

Until Saturday, I've only seen California Gulls in Arizona and California. I flew into Salt Lake City Saturday afternoon to pick up a vehicle from Rugged Rental for the upcoming field season along the lower Colorado River. After picking up the rental I drove north to Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area to look for Western, Glaucous-winged, and Thayer's Gulls that were reported the previous weekend. I scanned a few of the pools without finding anything out of the ordinary and gulls were nonexistent. I scoped back towards the highway and noticed a huge congregation of gulls at a landfill. I drove to the top of the landfill where people were unloading their "fill" and started scanning the gull flock from about 100 yards away. Scanning for over 40 minutes yielded nothing but California Gulls. Although nothing exciting, it was fun to practice in-flight gull photography.

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

California Gull, Larus californicus, is a common winter gull in the west and breeds inland across the west as well. They are a medium-sized gull with a white head and underparts. The back is a medium dark gray and and the wingtips are black with white spots. The legs are yellow green and the bill is yellow with a black ring near the tip and a red spot on the lower mandible.

Just like Jerry Ligouri's Hawks from Every Angle, here is my first installment (WARNING - this is probably the only installment in this series) of Gulls from Every Angle - 

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.

California Gull at Bountiful Landfill on 9 March 2013. Photo by Tim Schreckengost.