[EBB Sightings] Franklin's Gull on Saturday afternoon, 4/30

On Sun, 01 May 2005 11:03:23 -0700, Hilary Powers 
wrote:

>Eugenia Larson wrote:
>> As reported, the Franklin's Gull was at Lake Merritt on Saturday
>> afternoon, April 30th.  ... It is a full adult with pinkish wash on
>> the breast.
>Thanks for the picture! It confirms what I thought - this gull's beak is 
>a whole lot darker than the one Sibley pictures. Individual variation? 
>Subspecies? Bad print job in my book?

It looks very much like the bird I saw in San Francisco last weekend.  The
red on its bill was also barely visible.

Another photo at:

http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/frgu.htm

...seems to show a dark bill.

I suspect the bright red bill shown in some field guides may be ephemeral
and perhaps only at the height of the breeding season.  A similar
phenomenon is known to occur with the bill of Roseate Tern.

-- 
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044  jmorlan (at) ccsf.org 
Birding Classes in SF start Feb.8  http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee  http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/