Gull ID please

[Diane Miller]

I shot this gull about a week ago (mid-December) on a freshwater pond about 20 miles inland, NW of San Francisco. This is very early light and I tried to neutralize the color cast as much as I could -- the bird appears to be brownish-gray. It is larger than our more common seagulls, but I'm not even sure what they are.

The closest guess I can make is a Herring Gull or a Thayer's, but I'm not a birder and could be way off base.

Thanks for any help!

[David Smith]

Diane..

I would say it was a juvenile Herring Gull, but I could be wrong..

Dave

[Paul Guris]

I'd vote for 1st winter Herring Gull. That bill looks massive for Thayer's and the gonydeal angle at the bottom seems to extreme for Thayer's as well. The back is also more poorly patterned than I'd normally expect for Thayer's. An open wing shot could be helpful.

[Diane Miller]

Hi Paul,

Thanks! No open wings -- it just plodded around, seemingly very content, amidst a small assortment of Northern Shovelers, Coots, Mallards, Black-headed Stilts and one lone Green-winged Teal. Not the most exciting place for collectors but I'm happy with just halfway decent pictures for now.

I did get the full reflection, but cropped to make ID maybe a little easier.

If I get wings on the next trip, I'll post.

[Arthur Morris]

The bill appears much too massive for Herring Gull. The obvious choice for the west coast is a worn juvenal Western Gull and I believe that that is exactly what it is....