These photos of a Western Gull Larus occidentalis were taken on February 14th, 2004, at Linkcrest Landfill,
Corpus Christi. Initially I thought it was an Olympic Gull/Puget Sound Gull (Glaucous-winged
Gull X Western Gull hybrid) due to the shade of gray of the mantle; when at the exact same angle as Laughing
Gulls, the mantle appeared to be virtually identical in shade,
but a slightly different tone. However I later discovered that this mantle shade is fine for Western Gull, as are the faint vermiculations on the chest:
- pics by Martin Reid:
