Glacier Bay Gulls

My biggest regret about the Glacier Bay shots was that I forgot to set my ISO back from the end of the Skagway trip since I was shooting in very dark conditions. This left me with a lot of noisy images. Fortunately it didn't matter too much for the glaciers but played havoc with my bird shots.

Oh, well. At least I got some ID shots to keep. Like more Black-legged Kittiwakes than I even remember taking shots of. To start off, a Kittiwake heads toward the Margerie Glacier area.



Yet another glides by. Such a cute little gull.



Finally, a shot of their namesake black legs! The other ID is that their wing tips seem to be dipped in ink.



They kept swinging by, I kept shooting.



I like this one showing the red at the base of the bill.



Didn't even notice this one until recently but one of the resting birds could be a Winter plumaged bird.



There were also a few Glaucous-winged Gulls hovering around. Glaucous meaning "bluish-grey or green". They are very common on the Pacific Coast.



Is this a Glaucous-winged? Not sure yet. I do not know all of my gulls and especially all of their 'cycles'. It takes years for gulls to reach full breeding plumage and the differences are very different. I will have to do more research.



Case in point. I have NO idea what species this bird actually is. Update to follow. Hopefully.



Before the ship left Margerie Glacier there was a couple of Glaucous-winged Gulls playing around with one another.



Tomorrow we arrive at Ketchikan and I should be more familiar with the land birds there.