Black-legged Kittiwake
This immature Black-legged Kittiwake has been hanging out with the local gulls and terns at the Indian River Inlet for the past week and today finally had the opportunity to get an image of it after 2 days and 4 hours of tracking it. When finally spotted, the BLKI was resting with varied immature gulls and did not have the opportunity to capture it in flight. Today was a challenging day to observe and photograph birds with an impending Nor’easter building off the coast and fighting winds gusting to 45 mph and waves at 12 feet, but the gulls and terns continued to fish with success despite the weather!
Country United States
State Delaware
Location Delaware Seashore State Park, Indian River Inlet Southside
Gender Unknown
Age Juvenile/Immature
Activity In or By Water
Rare (For the Location)? Yes
- Created Timestamp09/24/2026 18:19:01
- CameraCanon EOS R6 Mark III
- Aperture7.1
- CreditSteve Shaffer
- Copyright2026 Steve Shaffer
- Focal Length600
- Iso250
- Shutter Speed1/1250
Congrats on the BLKI! I’m sure birders were out in numbers in search of this one. We saw many of them in Alaska but never in the midwest. Good luck with the Nor’easter – stay safe.