Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Laughing into Monday

Good to see the Laughing Gulls back in town. I heard them overhead for a couple of days before seeing any. These were out at Gravesend Bay and Floyd Bennet Field.An immature Ring-billed Gull, a mature Greater Black-backed Gull, and a Brant let you know that Laughing Gulls are on the smaller size. (The GBBG is the largest gull in the world, bigger even then a Red-tailed Hawk).
Leucophaeus atricilla, means, strictly translated, white-dusky black-tail. The stunning black head is breeding finery.

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