Several days of stormy weather in California probably pushed this rare gull to shore. This apparently very tired gull sat on the ground for a few minutes before taking off again for the safety of the ocean. When I arrived to the dirt lot across the street from "Surfer's Beach" there were close to 30 birders with spotting scopes on the bird.
Special thanks to Don Pendleton for finding this rare bird.
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w, e Greenland (rare); Arctic ne Siberia, locally from Taimyr Pen. to Kolyma River; Arctic ne Canada and formerly Churchill, Manitoba (wc Hudson Bay, ec Canada)
Nonbreeding Range Subregions
Arctic Ocean, in Beaufort (n of Alaska) and Labrador seas (at least)
Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN
Antarctica
AO
Atlantic Ocean
AU
Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL
Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO
Indian Ocean
LA
Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA
Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA
North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO
Northern oceans
OR
Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)