A rare bird was seen the week after the Christmas Bird Count in January. Diane Hichwa wrote, “Last Wednesday Bill and Paget Lenarz, who had come up to help with the Bird Count, were still watching for birds. They noticed at Pebble Beach a very light gull on the sand below. Not wanting to disturb it, they stayed on the bluff trail. They called me, and I phoned Craig Tooley to get photos. This was just what was needed to document the bird!”

Diane sent Craig’s photos to Dan Nelson, a Sonoma County expert on gulls, and he confirmed the sighting. He wrote, “A classic first winter Glaucous Gull. Nice!!” The Audubon Guide describes this gull as “a big, pale, ghostly gull of the far north.”

It's easy to take gulls for granted, but they can travel great distances, and have a story to tell. Glaucous Gulls are the second-largest gulls in the world! You can hear their calls at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Glaucous_Gull/sounds

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: www.ruffimage.com

The wind arrived during the night. Today the ocean is whipped up into a froth and it's sunny, but chilly.