Susan Kirby

When I see a gull with a black head, my first thought is a laughing gull. But often the bird, especially if the head isn’t black because the bird is a nonbreeding adult or a first winter bird, is actually a Bonaparte’s gull. Someone said of learning to identify gulls: Therein lies madness! But I will persevere, since I almost never fail to see gulls when I’m walking on the beach or by the Reservoir, and every now and then it helps to know who they are!