Audubon birding outing

On Saturday I went on a Golden Eagle Audubon Society birding field trip to C.J. Strike Reservoir near Mountain Home, Idaho. I always learn something new when I travel with these experienced birders. And, I saw a bird that was new to me, the White-winged Scoter.




I also got a nice photo of a beautiful gull, the Bonaparte's Gull. Gull identification can be difficult because to the untrained eye the differences can be subtle, and gulls don't just switch from juvenile to adult plumage, or winter to breeding plumage ... they change some of their feathers, in a cycle that is more complex than many other bird species. And, they interbreed, so it may be half one species and half of another.




Maybe that's why I think the Bonaparte's Gull is beautiful. Its graceful black and white detailing is very distinctive.