Huge liquid black eyes encircled by thick red rings. Light-tipped black bill with perfect white spots at the base. Dark chocolate brown hood. Red legs and lovely black-tipped wings. And, the tail – the gorgeous white u-shaped tail. The Swallow-tailed Gull is widely considered to be the most beautiful gull on earth. Never in a million years would I have expected to see this bird on my trip to Washington, but let me start at the beginning.
Those big beautiful eyes facilitate hunting at night. Swallow-tailed Gulls are the only nocturnal gulls in the world.
My friends Phil and Mary Dickinson moved across the country from North Carolina to Washington in December 2015. I expected very few life birds in Washington, but I wanted to visit my friends and I thought that it would be fun to see the Pacific Northwest and a new state. Phil suggested that late August/early…
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