{"id":5406,"date":"2012-07-27T08:46:57","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T14:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5406"},"modified":"2026-04-15T07:46:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T12:46:05","slug":"immature-franklins-gulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/27\/immature-franklins-gulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Franklin’s Gulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like<\/em> gulls, I know that gulls are not always a popular subject for many bird photographers and that they will often pass them by but to me they are as delightful, beautiful and fascinating as any other bird. I’m an unbiased bird photographer, if it has feathers and flies… I will photograph it. Sure certain species of gulls can be very common in\u00a0some areas but they aren’t in other parts of the world. Why pass them up?<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Franklin’s Gulls – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed these two immature Franklin’s Gulls while in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana last week. There were large flocks of Franklin’s Gulls in the area and I felt lucky that these two young birds were close enough to photograph. There was a third immature Franklin’s that was in a beautiful setting with small yellow flowers surrounding it but unfortunately a large California Gull that was behind it just didn’t listen to me when I politely asked it to remove its rump from behind my\u00a0intended subject because it was distracting. Oh well, these two posed nicely for me.<\/p>\n

Franklin’s Gulls are unique\u00a0in that\u00a0it is\u00a0believed that\u00a0they molt twice a year because they may need fresh flight feathers for their 5000 mile migration from their wintering and breeding grounds and back again. I enjoy the bright white, broad eye arcs of this species, it always gives them a wide-eyed look!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see more of my Franklin\u2019s Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I like gulls, I know that gulls are not always a popular subject for many bird photographers and that they will often pass them by but to me they are as delightful, beautiful and fascinating as any other bird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,223,1336,12,608],"tags":[1516,4021,4329,3539,521,4067,4071,5178,4330,2315,5434,3996,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-5406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-franklins-gulls","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-beaverhead-county-2","tag-bird-photography","tag-franklins-gull","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lake","tag-leucophaeus-pipixcan","tag-summer-3","tag-valley","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/franklins-gulls-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-2764.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1pc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56437,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/06\/early-franklins-gull-at-bear-river-mbr-on-march-6-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":5406,"position":0},"title":"Early Franklin’s Gull at Bear River MBR on March 6, 2018","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"While I had the Sandhill Crane and the Ring-billed Gulls in my view finder I heard a call and it only took a second for my brain to figure out that I was hearing a Franklin's Gull which surprised me because it was at the refuge much earlier than I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Early Franklin's Gull at Bear River MBR - March 6, 2018, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/franklins-gull-early-arrival-sandhill-crane-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48940,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/14\/franklins-gulls-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":5406,"position":1},"title":"Franklin’s Gulls at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Franklin's Gulls are only here in northern Utah during the breeding season, during the winter they spend their time along the west coast of South America.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Franklin's Gull on the wing, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/franklins-gull-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/franklins-gull-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/franklins-gull-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/franklins-gull-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4594,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/05\/franklins-gulls-feeding-frenzy\/","url_meta":{"origin":5406,"position":2},"title":"Franklin’s Gulls ~ Feeding Frenzy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year while I was camping and photographing at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge I saw a feeding frenzy that involved Franklin's and California Gulls in the flooded grasses and Sagebrush flats near the Lower Lake.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Franklin's Gull in flight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/franklins-gull-flight-montana-mia-mcpherson-2668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/franklins-gull-flight-montana-mia-mcpherson-2668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/franklins-gull-flight-montana-mia-mcpherson-2668.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/franklins-gull-flight-montana-mia-mcpherson-2668.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115595,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/03\/franklins-gull-images-better-late-than-never\/","url_meta":{"origin":5406,"position":3},"title":"Franklin’s Gull Images – Better Late Than Never","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I took these Franklin's Gull images at Farmington Bay WMA nearly a year ago. I suppose it's better late than never to share the photos with you all today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Franklin's Gull swallowing a fish, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/franklins-gull-pond-mia-mcpherson-2165.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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