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Project Noah Nature School
Larus occidentalis
Basking in the misty surf.
Pacific Coast.
Spotted on Dec 29, 2009
Submitted on Mar 17, 2013
5 Comments
Thanks, Liam. That would have been my guess, too, but it's always good to have a second opinion.
It seems quite large, so Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) is likely, but I have no way of eliminating Glaucous-winged or Olympic (Glaucous-winged x Western hybrid) Gull with these shots.
Your best bet is Larus sp.
Great photos, by the way!
That's a beautiful place!
Sorry, no. This is the closest and clearest shot I have of this one.
Do you have a closer crop where we can see the primaries (wingtips) better? Larus sp. are particularly tricky on the Pacific Northwest coast thanks to the amount of similar species and hybrids.