#43: Western Gull - Fiesta Island, CA

As I mentioned in the most recent post, my first lifer in California was a nice Western Gull, and it’s no coincidence why – they’re everywhere down there. And luckily gull identification is really easy in SoCal during the middle of summer. There’re only two or three species present, and one of them is quite distinctive (more on that later), meaning that if there was ever a gull I had a question about, nine times out of ten I had a Western Gull.

On James’s second day in San Diego, we headed down to Fiesta Island in Mission Bay. Man, Fiesta Island is a special place. In California, they don’t really have the concept of “rednecks” like we do in North Carolina. But if they did, I’d guarantee you every one of them would head down to Fiesta Island. It’s a dank, seedy beach where the men are chugging cases of Coors Light and the women are walking around in bikinis two sizes too small. Somewhat unfortunately, the birds don’t seem to mind the beachgoers as much as I did.

Common, but hey - can't complain about a lifer! Can complain about the beachgoers, however.

As often happens in southern California, we found a flock of gulls along the side of the road. This Western Gull put on quite a show for us, squabbling with the other gulls in the flock and ultimately alighting for a second before finding his place back among his fellow gulls. That is, until some asshole in a jetski buzzed the shore causing all the birds to flush. But hey, it’s California, right?