Ring-billed Gull Perched On A Wooden Pole
When I saw this Ring-billed Gull perched on a wooden pole at Farmington Bay WMA last week I knew I wanted to have it in my viewfinder.
When I saw this Ring-billed Gull perched on a wooden pole at Farmington Bay WMA last week I knew I wanted to have it in my viewfinder.
I have a soft spot for gulls so when I had the opportunity two days ago to photograph this Franklin's Gull flying in a smoky sky I was both excited and thrilled.
While Franklin's Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.
Today I am sharing two winter adult Herring Gull photos that I took earlier this month from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Earlier this month I was able to take third winter Herring Gull photos at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the ice from the auto tour route.
I went down to my local pond yesterday afternoon where the first bird I photographed was an adult California Gull standing on thin ice.
It is wintertime here in the Salt Lake Valley of northern Utah but given the lack of snow if it weren't for the cold temps you might not know that.
I recently wrote about my excitement that American Herring Gulls have started showing up in northern Utah. Last week I was able to photograph some of them.
Winter Herring Gulls have arrived in northern Utah and I am excited that I will have opportunities to photograph this gull species again.
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.
You take photos of ten species of birds and the twelve photos of a Ring-billed Gull in flight are the images you are the most excited to view when you get home.
When the weather turns colder, the clouds gather, and the snow falls I still have plenty of birds to photograph here in northern Utah.
I took this photo of a Ring-billed Gull walking through the snow in whiteout conditions on December 30, 2019 at a pond not far from where I live.
Just viewing this winter photo of the refuge made me feel refreshed and cooler. I also realized it might be hot now but cooler weather will be here before long.
While looking through my photos from two years ago today I came across images of this Ring-billed Gull coming in for a landing and thought the gull looked perfect against the blue of the water.
I like gulls. I love to photograph gulls. I enjoy watching gulls in flight, on the ground, and fighting over food. I just do. I'm proud to be a gull enthusiast.
After reviewing the images I took of the gull at home on a larger screen I was happy to see that it was a Herring Gull, gulls we only see in the winter here.
The longer I looked at the high key photos I took of this Ring-billed Gull in the snow the more I have enjoyed viewing them.
I can't say that I prefer one of these Ring-billed Gull images over the other, the low light image is as appealing to me as the one I took in afternoon light. I enjoy them both.
I know some people don't get excited about gulls but I do and I was thrilled two days ago at Bear River MBR when I spotted and photographed my first Herring Gulls of this winter season.
The light was low, big flakes of snow were falling and the ice was covered in fluffy snow so that allowed me to take photos of a few birds that looked like they were posed on a blank, white canvas.
It has been three years and one day since I took photos of a California Gull that had eyes that looked like snowflake obsidian.
I actually like photographing birds in a snow storm because the low light situations test my skills, the limits of my gear and the resulting photos often have a moody feeling to them.
Just a simple post today of the colorful insides of a Ring-billed Gull's bill that I photographed yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA as it yawned.
Not only was this Ring-billed Gull in molt it was molting in a remarkably symmetrical pattern which I found interesting. Because the gull was in flight the symmetry was very visible.
Ah, Mia, it is just a bird. No, it isn't just a bird. Because California Gulls aren't the only birds at risk of disappearing from the skies, shorelines and waters of Utah.
I thought that I would share screenshots of this morning and tomorrow morning's weather forecasts, it ain't pretty. In fact, it is absolutely rotten considering it is Spring and yet Ole Man Winter just won't let go.
While I had the Sandhill Crane and the Ring-billed Gulls in my view finder I heard a call and it only took a second for my brain to figure out that I was hearing a Franklin's Gull which surprised me because it was at the refuge much earlier than I have ever seen one there before.
On one of the brighter afternoons I spent just 15 minutes at the local pond and came away with lots of photos of winter California Gulls bathing, flying and landing and among those I liked this image the most.
It isn't all that often that I am able to photograph a calling Ring-billed Gull close enough that I can get a great view of the inside of its bill so when the opportunity presented itself earlier this week I took advantage of the situation.