It was resting by itself just above the shoreline, appearing fatigued. It would occasionally bob its head and sit with the entire length of its tibia resting on the ground, a behavior which most observers believed were signs of exhaustion. It was extremely tame, allowing observers to approach within five feet. On several occasions, the gull alighted in response to approaching joggers and dogs. But each time, it flew for only a few hundred feet paralleling the shoreline before coming to rest again. By late afternoon, the gull had moved to the north side of San Juan Creek and its condition had significantly deteriorated.

During this time, other birders in the immediate vicinity were notified of the Ivory Gull. At about 1400 the Ivory Gull was reported to southern California’s “BirdBox” and phone calls were made to other birders. By sunset many other observers had arrived. It was reported on the BirdBox that the gull was still being seen under flashlight up until about 2300 that night. However, to the dismay of hundreds of birders who showed up at dawn the next day, the gull could not be refound. This brief sighting is the first record of the Ivory Gull in California, not only representing the second record along the Pacific coast south of British Columbia, but the southernmost sighting of this bird in the world. No doubt, it was one of the most sensational vagrants ever to occur in California for the few birders fortunate enough to witness it. While the twelve photographs are on record in the California Rare Birds Records, these photographs have never been published and have only been seen by a select few.

In the United States, it is a very rare but regular winter vagrant to the northeastern Atlantic coast andGreat Lakes region, with most records occurring between December and February in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey (Granlund, 1992; Green and Janssen, 1975; Veit and Petersen, 1993). Pacific coast records are scarcer and include four from southern and southeastern Alaska (13-14 April, 1963; 1 May, 1963; 7 November 1975; 13 July, 1976), two from British Columbia (September, 1889; November, 1897), one from Tagish Narrows, Yukon Territory (21-24 Nov, 1999) and one from Washington (20 December, 1975, at Gray’s Harbor) (Roberson, 1980). Recent interior sightings include one on a reservoir in Iowa from 24 De to 1 Jan (1991), one in Springfield, IL on 1 Jan (1991), on ein Chicago, IL from 25 Dec to 2 Jan (1992) (Goetz, 1992; Peterjohn, 1991, 1992). Other recent U.S. sightings compiled from the web include: Grand Isle, VT (4 Jan, 2000), Portland, ME (Jan-Mar, 1997), and a remarkable record from Virginia (12 Sep, 1998).

Click here to see all twelve photographs and more discussion on this remarkable occurence.