Farmington Bay Ring-billed Gull Immediately After Bathing

Ring-billed Gull immediately after bathing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I spent a little bit of time at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning and I was excited to see a couple of squadrons of American White Pelicans flying over the marshes early in my visit there and thirty-one Great Blue Herons at the rookery when I was about to go home. I had hoped to see or hear my first of the year Sandhill Cranes but I dipped on that. The birds I photographed the most yesterday were American Crows and gulls.

A few days ago when I wrote about a bathing Black-bellied Plover I mentioned that the plover turned its back towards me when it finished bathing which meant that I missed having photos of it facing me that I wanted of it where the bird lifted its wings and leapt up into the air. That is a behavior I see in quite a few bird species, including gulls.

Yesterday I saw a Ring-billed Gull bathing among the flock and kept my eye and lens on it even though there were quite a few other birds quite close to it. My hope was that those birds would move away and I could isolate the bathing Ring-billed Gull and that is exactly what happened right at the time the gull finished its bath. The gull lifted its wings…

Ring-billed Gull leaping after a bath – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

And leapt into the air above the water. As much as I like the first photo where the Ring-billed Gull has its wings spread and its feet still in the water I like the second photo even more because of the action and how the bird is suspended over the water.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Ring-billed Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.