Ivory Gull

Thought I would share this since I think it is special. I photographed, what I believe to be an Ivory Gull, in Cape May, NJ this winter. The Gull stayed around for three or four weeks. Apparantly, there was only one. I understand that these birds are common north of the Arctic circle and that sightings in the contiguous states are quite unusual. The photos were cropped and resized only.

Yep, that's it Joseph. I was there on Dec 5th, but it was rainy and photography was tough. Your shot looks better than anything I came away with. It does seem a little soft and it would have been nice to have him angling towards you, but its still a nice shot and should have a lot of personal meaning. This is certainly a rare bird for NJ.

Hi Joseph,
The picture you have uploaded is probably a snowy owl. Ivory Gulls are all white.
Here's 2 photos from Plymoth,MA 1-2009.

John

#2

John, your pictures are awesome. I wish I had the light you had and a cooperative subject. It looks like you have an adult there, showing all white plumage. The NJ bird was a sub-adult, which does have black spots. Its funny that you mentioned snowy owl, because the pattern of spots is definitely similar. Anyway, here's a crude photo of the NJ bird that is barely good enough for an ID, but its all I got (It rained heavily and the Ivory Gull never really came close).

Jeff,
Great shot of the juvie in the rain. Same face as the adults for sure! I was told a juvie would be all white as well.
This picture is a big help information wise. Amazing that the 2 types of birds would have such close camouflage.

John