Friday, September 11, 2015

It's the End of Breeding Season for Western Gulls

I escaped to Cambria Wednesday to try to escape our triple digit temperatures, and I discovered Leffingwell Landing for the first time. Usually I only get as far north as Moonstone Beach. Leffingwell Landing is part of San Simeon State Park, just a bit farther north than Moonstone Beach. The rocky coast looks much the same, but there are more parking spots and a some grassy areas with trees and picnic tables.

A Western Gull Nest at Leffingwell Landing? © B. Radisavljevic
Western Gulls Nesting?
As I was looking out at the rocks, I noticed these Western Gulls. I rarely see them in pairs like this, and one does appear to be possibly sitting on a nest. It is the end of the breeding season. These birds do nest on rocks, usually in a hole with vegetation around it. The photos I saw in Google images showed many nests with less vegetation than this. One at Point Lobos, farther north past Big Sur, looked quite similar to this.

A Western Gull Nest at Leffingwell Landing? © B. Radisavljevic
The photo above is just  part of the photo to the right. I wanted you to see the birds up close, but I also want you to see the view they have from their nest, if it is a nest. What do you think? Nest or not?

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

2 comments:

  1. I'm thinking you may be right and it is a nest, esp the way that bird is sitting. Beautiful capture!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for adding your opinion. A closer look would have been nice, but it was out of the question that day.

      Delete

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