Part 1 of 2: My wife headed to the coast, specifically Westport, to escape the inland head. As we walked on the bridge between the parking lot and 20 floating dock, Caspian terns cruised down the channel between the outer breakwaters and the pier 20 dock. They kept a sharp eye for unwary baitfish.
Along the docks, we could easily hear the calls of pigeon guillemots that were in the water or perched wooden supports on the E St. dock. Amy counted ten individuals. One landed near us, dove, and came up with an eel-like gunnel. It then flew off to the dock to feed a chick.
We continued out to the breakwater that protect the marine. As we had arrived at low tide, the broad sand beach at Westhaven Cove inside the elbow of breakwater was exposed. Several species of gulls, juveniles and adults, were dozing on the sand. The adults (I don’t id juvenile gulls – too frustrating…) demonstrated the mix of characters that you have to consider to properly identify the adults. The gulls included the common Salish Sea glaucous-winged gull (pink legs, a red spot on the tip of the lower mandible, light gray mantle and light gray primaries),
Western gulls (also pink legs, also red spot on the tip of the lower mandible, darker gray mantle, and black primaries),
herring gulls (also pink legs, also red spot on tip of lower mandible, light gray mantle, but dark primaries), and California gulls (yellow-green legs, red and black spots on tip of bill, light gray back, dark primaries).
Steve
Along the docks, we could easily hear the calls of pigeon guillemots that were in the water or perched wooden supports on the E St. dock. Amy counted ten individuals. One landed near us, dove, and came up with an eel-like gunnel. It then flew off to the dock to feed a chick.
We continued out to the breakwater that protect the marine. As we had arrived at low tide, the broad sand beach at Westhaven Cove inside the elbow of breakwater was exposed. Several species of gulls, juveniles and adults, were dozing on the sand. The adults (I don’t id juvenile gulls – too frustrating…) demonstrated the mix of characters that you have to consider to properly identify the adults. The gulls included the common Salish Sea glaucous-winged gull (pink legs, a red spot on the tip of the lower mandible, light gray mantle and light gray primaries),
Western gulls (also pink legs, also red spot on the tip of the lower mandible, darker gray mantle, and black primaries),
herring gulls (also pink legs, also red spot on tip of lower mandible, light gray mantle, but dark primaries), and California gulls (yellow-green legs, red and black spots on tip of bill, light gray back, dark primaries).
Steve
Attachments
Last edited:
