Sunset Franklin's Gull

Lisa found a Franklin's Gull in New Buffalo yesterday.  I swung by this evening to see what would be on the beach, the Franklin's was one of the first birds I saw as it turned out.  It was pretty content to hang out at the periphery of the Ring-billed flock.

 The brown wings make it a first fall bird.  As the fall progresses it will get more gray in the back.

 I ended up waiting about an hour for the sun to set to really get warm light.  I was trying different white balance settings, some of which worked better than others.

I really never got a shot of the spreadwing.  It stretched this one time, though the wings extended well out of the frame.

  Occasionally a Ring-billed would peck at it and it would skitter away somewhat.  My shutter speed was too slow to freeze the wings in the low light though.

A shot of Chicago on the horizon.