Unusual white birds of prey by the ocean - ID Request
I was surfing down at the Seal Beach river jetty yesterday, and while I was walking to the waterline, I saw two large birds sitting on the lifeguard tower. At first, I thought they were seagulls, but they were larger (of a size somewhere between a seagull and a pelican) and had short falcon beaks. They had mostly white plumage, with some light brown on the heads and bits of brown on the wings. But I fear I didn't get enough identifying details, and I didn't have a camera because I was in my wetsuit.
I'm not a birder, but I have come to recognize the usual falcons, oystercatchers, pelicans, plovers, and various gulls with which I share the beach and waves, but these were new to me! I'd be curious if anyone has any ideas to which birds I saw, or if anyone in the area saw them as well.