Serious looking Ring-billed Gull in flight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I love photographing gulls. Whether they are feeding, resting, preening, fighting, calling, or in flight gulls are one of my favorite bird species to have in my viewfinder. I’ll photograph gulls in high temps, fog, rain, on sunny days, low light days or on days where there is falling snow.
So far this winter season I haven’t had my fill of gulls at my local pond or at locations farther away but this has been a strange year for so many reasons. We get our normal resident gulls in the winter and some that are more unusual including Iceland, Glaucous, Glaucous-winged, Western, Lesser Black-backed, Little and Mew Gulls and I’d like to add all of those gulls to my photo galleries.
The day before I photographed this serious looking Ring-billed Gull three years ago was cold and snowy and when I went down to my local pond the gulls there were harassing the goldeneyes and stealing crayfish from them. It was great fun photographing the thieving gulls. When the snowstorm moved on towards the east the air in the valley was clearer or perhaps a better term to use would be cleaner because the snow had scrubbed the nasty inversion from the air.
I had gone way up north looking for birds to photograph that bright winter morning but as it turned out my best birds were much, much closer to home. I spent time at my local pond in the afternoon to make up for such a disappointing morning in the field and came home with photos of coots, grebes, ducks, geese, and gulls that I really liked.
This photo of a serious looking Ring-billed Gull on the wing excites me just as much as if it had been a Bald or Golden Eagle flying with clouds in the background. That is how much I enjoy photographing gulls.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Ring-billed Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.
P.S., the weather today and tomorrow is going to be pretty cruddy and it will keep me close to home because I don’t want to be on snowy roads with the crazies that drive too fast for the weather conditions or can’t seem to keep their eyes off of their phones but I’m hoping to spend some time at my local ponds photographing birds.
Two day weather forecast for Salt Lake City, December 17 2020
A beautiful banking shot, Mia. Love seeing those white patches on the primaries.
They are clever little devils and I would have enjoyed watching them steal their dinner, despite feeling sorry for the ducks. Our weather here in Alberta is similar , like a see-saw.
He is a spectacular beauty.
Your temperatures for the new two days are much like ours – except that ours are in Celcius and there is NO snow in the offing.
I grew up watching the gulls in the fields as the farmers tilled. I love the call.
Where is our snow today?
One year a flock of Ring-billed Gulls descended on our lake (inland 18 miles in south Florida) and they attacked the large newly-hatched brood of a Muscovy Duck. I was surprises that one of the big Muscovy drakes caught and apparently killed one of the ducklings as well. It was like a crowd mentality with the gulls fighting over the carcasses.
Cool photo Mia