Tag Archives: Western Gulls

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Western Gulls are the only gulls that nest on the Mendonoma coast. Jon Shiu recently photographed three chicks, looking like little rocks with legs! Is the one on the right singing? Most likely he/she is hoping to get fed.

Here's a look at three adult Western Gulls with the chicks behind them.

Thanks to Jon for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

There's a fog bank over the ocean, keeping temps very nice and not too toasty. It's very hot inland and it was hot away from the ocean yesterday. It hit 88 degrees at my place in Anchor Bay yesterday, and today it's 78 degrees. No wind to speak of and lots of visitors are here escaping the inland heat, just as Rick and I used to do when we lived in Walnut Creek!

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Mike Reinhart wondered if this Osprey was diving for a fish.

But it turns out the water was very shallow there, so perhaps the Osprey just wanted to wade, according to Mike.

And that started the neighbors, a pair of Western Gulls, to talking!

Thanks to Mike for a fun series of photos.

It's a mixed weather bag today. Sunny early, then rain showers, then sun. And it's cool here! I know, I know...cool for the Mendonoma Coast.

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Ospreys arrive on the Mendonoma Coast around the first day of spring. This year they arrived early and they quickly got to work on their nests. Rick Denniston noticed this Osprey perched on a snag, and he also photographed Western Gulls below on the sandbar and in the Gualala River.

Ospreys make nests of sticks at the top of tall trees. Females are sitting on nests now, and perhaps there are chicks inside. Until the chicks' heads can be seen above the edge of the nests, we just don't know for sure what's going on!

I have some dramatic photos of an Osprey fishing taken by Gaily Jackson, which I will be sharing here soon.

Thanks to Rick for allowing me to share his photos with  you here.

We are having a beautiful day here today, sunny, warm and a slight breeze. Lots of visitors are arriving for the Memorial Day long weekend.

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Steve Bennett photographed these two Western Gulls strolling along the beach, at Bowling Ball Beach.

Western Gulls are the only year-round Gulls on the Mendonoma coast. We do see other species of Gulls arriving  now, to overwinter here or, perhaps, just passing through.

Here's a close-up of one of these gulls, taken by Allen Vinson. They are quite beautiful, and just look at those pink legs and webbed feet!

Thanks to Steve and Allen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Oh my, the fog rolled in thick and heavy today, and it's cold!

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Carolyn Carnell shared this photo of the big island sitting off the north end of The Sea Ranch, Gualala Point Island. It was very crowded that day!

Carolyn Carnell wrote, “This photo was taken while doing a drone survey to check on the Common Murres nests on the [west] side of Gualala Point Island. To our surprises it was covered with 112 Brown Pelicans, with many also in the water along with Common Murres having a feeding frenzy.”

Also on the island were Brandt's Cormorants and Western Gulls. Let's face it, GPI is a popular place to hang out! The Brown Pelicans were most likely resting before continuing their northward migration. As I've shown you in a previous post, the juveniles are now strong enough to be passing by the Mendonoma coast.

There was a lot of bait fish in the ocean which caused multiple feeding frenzies last week, a good sign of the health of the ocean.

Here's one of my favorite photos of GPI as big waves crash into it during a high surf event, taken by Richard Kuehn.

Thanks to Carolyn and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.