Sooooooo far behind in posting…
For a little more than a week, the New Jersey bird lists have all been buzzing with news of an immature ivory gull in Cape May. This is only the fourth or fifth time the ivory gull has been documented in the state — it’s an arctic bird that winters on pack ice. (From All About Birds: “A small white gull of the high Arctic, the Ivory Gull only rarely comes south of the Bering Sea or the Maritime Provinces. In fact, it rarely is found away from pack ice, spending the winter on the ice north of Newfoundland.”)
So when today dawned sunny (for a change!) and I had a day without 8,462 things scheduled (for a change!), I decided to give the 2.5-hour trip a shot. And boy am I glad I did… absolutely stunning bird and very cooperative… The adult is pure white; this youngster is more ivory with grey-black tips and specks.
Playing peekaboo
On the sea wall
Right profile
Left profile
last of the munchies
Off to forage
In flight