Gull
Larus sp. · Seabirds
Gull against the sunset
San Diego, 6 March 2026
A gull in silhouette against the sunset off La Jolla, which is enough for the shape of the wingbeat but nothing else. The species is not determinable here and I haven't guessed at one.
It is almost certainly heading for the roost. Gulls spend the night on the water or on the offshore rocks, safe from anything on four legs, and the last hour of light on this coast is a steady stream of them going out.
Immature gull
San Diego, 6 March 2026
A young gull on the beach at La Jolla, mottled brown overall with none of the clean grey-and-white of an adult, and likely in its first year. The Western Gull is the default expectation on this stretch of coast, where it breeds on the offshore islands, but I wouldn't call it certain from plumage alone at this age.
Large gulls take three to four years to reach adult plumage, cycling through a series of increasingly pale and patterned stages, which is exactly what makes young gulls so much harder to pin to species than the adults.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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