I love walking on the beach really early in the morning. I especially like it when I'm the only one there and that happens more frequently than you might think, even in mid summer....
Often the mornings are misty....
Boats are still at rest in the early morning light....
Even the gulls appear to be resting. These two young gulls are immature, most likely second year, greater black backed gulls. Note their cleanly marked plumage and blackish bills.
Compare the bigger body mass and clean look of the black backs with this muddier looking, smaller gull--an immature, probably second year, herring gull.
here are more black backed gulls--a full adult, a third year herring gull (I think) and what I would call a second year black backed gull. I am not a gull expert so feel free to disagree with me if you have something to add.
The gull with the gray back is a herring gull, the one most people just refer to as a seagull. That is an immature bird on the right.
This willet landed nearby as I was taking pictures of the gulls so I included it here, too. There is at least one pair of willets nesting in the marsh nearby this beach and I see them feeding here almost daily. They don't usually hang out up in the sandy area like this one but I think I took it by surprise.
These are just a few of the sightings I had while walking the beach early in the morning...every day is different!
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