Laughing Gull slip sliding away...Laughing Gull slip sliding away… – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

The day I photographed this Laughing Gull Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico some three hundred miles away from Fort De Soto County Park and even though it was that far away the hurricane still affected us with string winds and choppy waves. All of the birds that were there that day were taking advantage of chasing the small bait fish that were being injured by the wave action and being pushed up to the shore, the gulls and the egrets seemed to be the most active.

Of the images I took that day on the beach, and there were tons of them, this image of a Laughing Gull sliding across the water as it chased a fish in the shallow waves was one of my favorites. I know that the gull was just looking for and chasing down food but it sure looked like it was having fun when it slid across the surface of the water sideways on its feet. I wanted to get up off of the sand and try sliding sideways across the water myself after watching this gull.

I know, some people really can’t stand gulls and some people won’t even slow down enough to photograph them or say they should but don’t, me; I love them and think they are great fun to photograph and beautiful birds too. A bird is a bird no matter what species it is and I can’t resist them.

Life is good.

Mia

Photo taken September 12, 2008