Welcome!

Hello to everyone who has added this journal in the past couple days! I hope you are enjoying it, and looking at the species in the archives, finding your favorites and so on. I haven't added you back as a friend because the 365 urban species posts aren't friends protected. If you really really want to read my posts about my vacation, my netflix queue, my dietary habits, my work and private life, comment here and I'll add you.

LIKEWISE

I used to add everyone who added me, as a kind of reflex. In so doing, I probably have treated a lot of people to posts about my netflix queue, my work and private life, etc. who never ever wanted to read such stuff. If I added you as a friend, and you really only want to read my public posts, comment here and I'll take you off the list. I'm not trying to get rid of or alienate anyone, I just want to make sure you're getting the version of the journal that you want. Sorry for any past confusion, embarrassment, or boredom.

The "365 Urban Species" posts will always be public posts.

Thanks for checking it out!

(Icon species is #147)

365 Urban Species. #216: Glaucous-winged Gull

Photos by urbpan. Location: The Seattle Center.

Urban species #216: Glaucous-winged gull Larus glaucesens

It's a well-known fact that coastal cities attract gulls. These large scavenging birds have no qualms about treating human industry and settlements as food sources. From Alaska down to Northern Washington, the gull most commonly seen in the city is the glaucous-winged gull. ("Glaucous" is an odd word used by botanists and ornithologists to refer to a pale, powdery, grayish greenish bluish color.) The glaucous-winged gull collects in large groups in the center of Seattle, battling crows for scraps of bread and tossed pieces of popcorn. It perches on the skyscrapers in downtown Vancouver, illuminated by neon signs at night and floating down into alleyways to raid dumpsters in the daytime. They follow fishing boats and garbage barges out to sea. As the population of Northwestern cities has been rising in the past half-century, the population of glaucous-winged gulls has more than tripled.

The glaucous-winged gull is as big as a herring gull (with which it sometimes interbreeds), with a proportionally larger bill. It has distinctively pink legs, and pale gray wings. The herring gull has some black primary feathers that contrast with its gray wings.



( with a Seattle crow )

Another vacation post

Just a quick one 'cause dad wants to go out and eat. We're still in Vancouver, having spent the day in Stanley park (bigger than Central park! Bigger than Golden Gate Park!) and Capilano Suspension bridge theme park and let the kids run around place. It was all pretty impressive. I have 5000 pictures that I'll never get around to posting, because I still haven't posted all of my Seattle pictures. Tomorrow we go to Vancouver Island (note to non-Canadians: Vancouver and Vancouver Island are totally different places, separated by water--I don't know why) and I'll be hopelessly lost. Between driving in city traffic, walking aimlessly looking for another bar to eat in, and talking with hotel employees about why the internet isnt' working now, I'll never be able to post all the pictures I took today. Take my word for it, they're amazing. They feature some wonderful invertebrate life, a gull choking on a starfish, and a huge pile of sulphur. Imagine them, because they may stay in my camera forever.

Have some more pictures from Stanley Park:

( especially for my honey )