[Length 16.5 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This immature Laughing Gull was photographed at Cape May, New Jersey, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film. (Date: September 1984)

[Length 16.5 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

Laughing Gulls breed along the southeast coast of Canada and the eastern and Gulf coasts of the US. They winter along the southeast and Gulf coasts of the US. Nothing heralds the coming of summer at the beach in New Jersey more than the late spring arrival of Laughing Gulls. This one was photographed along a small roadside pool near Moore's Beach, New Jersey, USA. Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 64 film. (Date: June 1988)

[Length 16.5 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This immature Laughing Gull was photographed at Isla Blanca County Park, South Padre Island, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 70-200mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens + Nikkor TC14E II 1.4x Teleconverter (EFL=420mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: August 27, 2008)

[Length 16.5 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This Laughing Gull was photographed at Isla Blanca County Park, South Padre Island, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 70-200mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens + Nikkor TC14E II 1.4x Teleconverter (EFL=375mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: August 27, 2008)

[Length 16.5 in. Wingspan 40 in.]

This Laughing Gull in Flight was photographed at the beach, South Padre Island, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=255mm) on a Nikon D300 camera. (Date: June 13, 2012)

[Length 21 in. Wingspan 54 in.]

This Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Baltasound, Unst, Shetland, Scotland, Great Britain. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF-S f4 lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D100 camera. (Date: June 6, 2004)

[Length 21 in. Wingspan 54 in.]

This winter plumaged Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Brigantine NWR, New Jersey, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: December 1991)

[Length 21 in. Wingspan 54 in.]

Lesser Black-backed Gulls are fairly common in western Europe and northern Africa, and have increased in number along the eastern Canada and US coasts during the 1980s and 1990s. What was once a rare bird in New Jersey is now a regular fall, winter, spring, and, occasionally, summer visitor. This one was a regular (and reliable) fall visitor for many years at Brigantine NWR, New Jersey, USA. Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 200 film pushed to 800. (Date: November 1991)