Gull ID please

[kastern]

Just got back from ten days or so on Vancouver Island. Most of the trip was spent visiting our children and grandchildren so didn't get a chance to do much birding. We did stop at Union Bay, just south of Campbell River as I wanted to see the Purple Martins there (which I did). There was a flock of about a dozen of these small gulls there that spent a lot of time down on the mud flats. I didn't have my binoculars with me and only managed this one shot. My husband picked this time to discover he couldn't find his truck keys so we spent an hour or so searching for them instead of looking at birds, only to discover he'd left them in the truck....grrrrr

Back to the gulls - they had a very 'un-gull like call' but that is about all I can recall. I'm wondering if they could possibly be Ross Gulls or Black-legged Kittiwake or We also saw some Caspian Tern at a beach just north of Courtney but didn't get any pictures of them.

Kathy

[Gord]

Hi Kathy!

I would say those are Bonaparte's gulls, possibly young ones in moult? The black 'M' on their wings are faint, but visible.

Ross gulls have wedge shaped tails, and kittiwakes do not have black edges on the edges of their secondaries (I had to check the book to confirm what I told you, as I've never seen those species...yet, but Ive checked them out in the past in the book). Good birds to include in your question though as all three species we've talked about share some similar features (black tail tip, wing markings and facial patterns).

Good pictures for ID though. Good work. Saves the sort of sick feeling of leaving a bird you couldnt identify.