For most of my adult life I have used the National Geographic Field Guide of North American Birds as my primary field Guide. It's fine artwork, well written descriptions, excellent range maps and overall easy to use organizational structure make this guide the gold standard for me. I mention this because when I went to Aptos to search for the two rare gulls seen at the mouth of Aptos Creek, I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Dunn the author of the National Geographic Guide.
I had just arrived at the creek mouth and was perched up on a mound of sand created by the late December storms when I heard a voice behind me ask, "Is this the place for the Gulls? After giving a positive response I came down off my mound and he stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jon Dunn." After introducing myself I asked, "You mean the Jon Dunn, author of the National Geographic Guide?" After answering we had a conversation about how much I enjoyed and used his book these last 35 years and we began to look through the small flock of gulls at the mouth of the creek. I had only just gotten there and hadn't really looked through them yet and I told Jon I was not a very good gull person. He immediately picked out the Laughing Gull and gave me a couple of key field marks and we enjoyed good looks but after a few more minutes of careful scanning we couldn't turn up the bird I had come for - the Black-headed Gull.
Since ebird reports had the bird moving between Hidden Beach to the east and the Aptos Creek mouth I told Jon that I would walk the beach in between to search for it. We exchanged phone numbers so I could text him if I found the bird and I shouldered my scope and started walking.
After a 5 mile walk examining all the gulls, picking up a nice blister, and getting a bit peeved at the dog owners who let their dogs chase off the birds, I returned to the creek mouth hoping that the BHGU would show up. Sure enough it wasn't but a few moments and there it was. I sent off a text message to Jon so he could come back to see it and got comfortable in my chair to watch and take pictures. After about 45 minutes the gull began to move east down the beach stopping at intervals to join the Sanderlings in the surf. I kept it in view for as long as I could until, once again the dogs intervened and it flew down the beach and out of sight. Not five minutes later Jon arrived. This happens so often in birding! He and his companions decided to move down to a further parking lot to try and catch the gull there. He later sent me a text letting me know that they found the Black-headed Gull and he could add it to his Santa Cruz County list. So a successful day for all!
I really enjoyed meeting Jon, he is one of the friendliest birders I have encountered out there in the field. He is also generous in his knowledge and happy to share it in a way that doesn't display the least hint of condescension. I hope to bump into him again some day and this time to have my field guide with me so he can sign it!
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| Laughing Gull |
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| Laughing Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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| Black-headed Gull |
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