California Gull, the State Bird of Utah, visits South Dakota
Many species of gulls are starting to migrate through the Pierre, South Dakota area. Among those I saw yesterday was the California Gull pictured here. California Gull is the State Bird of Utah because of a very famous historical event. In the late spring of 1848, hordes of grasshoppers were beginning to destroy the crops of early settlers in the Great Salt Lake Basin. Then, in early June, vast flocks of California Gulls, Larus californicus, came and devoured the insects, thereby saving both the crops and the people. California Gulls breed in the Great Plains and western mountain basins, and spend the winter along the Pacific coast.
Hi Bill:
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of creating an online "Field Guide to the Birds of Vancouver Island' and hoping that you might be generous enough to donate some of your excellent photos to the project. I'm particularly in need of your California Gull. The range maps and text are stored at http://picasaweb.google.com/warbler2020 under RANGES. Those who have donated so far are listed with links to the stored photos on Flickr under the Mockingbird image. My email is warbler2020@gmail.com If you are interested please leave your photo (Flickr) website address and a note of permission.
My real name is Keith Taylor and the explanation for Greg Smythe’s name on the website is explained under the picture of Homer Simpson.
Thank you
Keith