California Gulls are medium sized gulls that have yellow bills and legs with white heads and underparts with medium gray backs. They have red eye rings, dark eyes, orange gapes and their bills have has a black line with a red spot on the lower mandible.
I have to admit that, after living in Utah for nearly fifteen years, it feels weird not seeing California Gulls now that I've moved away. Really weird.
As I photographed a winter California Gull at my local pond two days ago, I thought about how these gulls are a misnamed species for the umpteenth time.
While I was at my local pond three days ago, I was happy to photograph this California Gull in winter plumage that had just landed on the water.
This morning I'm sharing two photos of a California Gull playing with a stick at one of my local ponds that I took during the winter in January of 2021.
My Winter Solstice was cloudy and gray. I wandered down to my local pond to take in my first day of winter views of the Wasatch Mountains plus a few birds.
Since I frequently get asked which is which I thought this would be a good time to do a winter California and American Herring Gull comparison and ID feature post.
Last week I spent a few minutes focused on photographing an urban California Gull in soft morning light at a pond close to home.
While taking a short break yesterday morning I went down to my local pond for a few minutes and took a few California Gull photos while I was there.
I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.
This Christmas Eve morning is so very different from the one I had in 1998. I was sitting at my computer that morning much the same as I am now but I lived in Virginia then and I was going through some rough times.
I photographed this California Gull after it bathed almost a year ago at a small pond close to where I live in Salt Lake county on a cold afternoon.
I went down to my local pond yesterday afternoon where the first bird I photographed was an adult California Gull standing on thin ice.
Just viewing this winter photo of the refuge made me feel refreshed and cooler. I also realized it might be hot now but cooler weather will be here before long.
It has been three years and one day since I took photos of a California Gull that had eyes that looked like snowflake obsidian.
I live in such a beautiful state and even though birds are my primary focus as subjects the natural world that surrounds me is endlessly fascinating, stunning and I hope I never lose the sense of wonder I feel when I see it.
Ah, Mia, it is just a bird. No, it isn't just a bird. Because California Gulls aren't the only birds at risk of disappearing from the skies, shorelines and waters of Utah.
May is a time of renewal at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and as the marsh begins to green up the migrant birds return and along with the year round residents their songs and calls can be heard over the wetlands.
On one of the brighter afternoons I spent just 15 minutes at the local pond and came away with lots of photos of winter California Gulls bathing, flying and landing and among those I liked this image the most.
So, even though I didn't get great photos yesterday I was glad to get out and photograph a Barn Owl, Bald Eagle and these California and Ring-billed Gulls.
While photographing a California Gull on ice two days ago I was reminded of how well these gulls survive the bitter cold we have here at times during the winter even when the ponds, lakes and rivers freeze over.
All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.
I recently became aware that there were ads at the bottom of the email that was automatically sent out to you all when I published my blog post this morning.
During the winter I have opportunities to photograph California Gulls in flight in snow storms in low light and while images like this one aren't appealing to everyone's tastes I like them a lot.
I spent some time at one of the local ponds yesterday afternoon and came home with photos that made me smile and for a little while I forgot about the long hours I spent getting skunked on the road earlier in the day.
Brine flies that live in the Great Salt Lake are an important food source for California Gulls and watching the gulls feed on the flies is fascinating as they use several techniques to catch them.
We have the Ring-billed and California Gulls in northern Utah year round but the Herring Gulls are only winter visitors to this area.
This California Gull blur in a snow storm was one of those blurs that happened because of slow shutter speeds and low light but I found that I liked the resulting photo and will call it a happy accident.
Two days ago this California Gull flew in and was so close to me that I felt I had to take portraits of it because the gull looked so handsome against the blue of the water.
It isn't all that often I get to photograph a gull lift off from the water and fly head on directly towards me like this California Gull in winter plumage did a few days ago.
One of the things that make my feathers ruffle though is when I see people post a bird photo and call it a "seagull" because there is no such thing as a seagull.