Eye Color Variation in California Gulls
The typical eye color for California Gulls is a very dark brown that appears almost black in most cases but there can be variations in their eye color.
The typical eye color for California Gulls is a very dark brown that appears almost black in most cases but there can be variations in their eye color.
It was fun photographing this Double-crested Cormorant with its catch yesterday afternoon close to home especially since I knew the weather was going to take a turn.
For most of the year Ring-billed and California Gulls are some of the most common gulls here in northern Utah and for some people it might be challenging to tell them apart.
I photographed this California Gull hovering over the Bear River with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the back ground while it looked for prey in the open water below.
We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.
There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them.
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 was able to lock on to the Herring Gull in flight with a sea urchin in its bill when it was close enough to me to fill the frame, it was almost too close at that point.
It will take several molts before this immature Ring-billed Gull looks like an adult but by now, a year after it was photographed, this juvenile should look more like the adult.
I know this isn't a complete Franklin's Gull and Laughing Gull comparison but I'm not a scientist, just a bird photographer and bird lover.
Ring-billed and California Gulls are the typical gulls I find in Utah so it wasn't much of a surprise to find this California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Over the past week I have been able to photograph several Ring-billed Gulls in flight in varying light and like the way they turned out.
I photographed this California Gull back in May on Antelope Island State Park in falling rain and like the streaks of rain in the frame.
I spent a few hours at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and was able to witness a very brief skirmish between a Clark's Grebe that had a fish in its bill and a Ring-billed Gull that tried to steal the fish.
The light was beautiful yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to photograph a few species if birds including this juvenile Northern Harrier flying over the marsh.
Among the bait fish skirmishes one solitary Ring-billed Gull stood out to me and as it flew after the Reddish Egret and Laughing Gulls I kept my lens trained on it.
In bird photography what is in the background can enhance or distract the eye from the main subject.
All this California Gull would need to get some people excited about it is talons instead of webbed feet and more of a hook to its bill and people would go absolutely bat-sh*t crazy over them.
The California Gulls and the Marbled Godwit came in close and I decided to do some portrait images of the gull.
In February of 2011 I wrote about the age progression of Bald Eagles along with images to illustrate the ages, today I am doing the same but with Ring-billed Gulls.
Over the past week I have seen California Gulls in breeding plumage flying to Egg Island in the Great Salt Lake with nesting material in their bills while on the north end of Antelope Island State Park.
Photographing this California Gull on the wing was a highlight of my morning the day I took this photo. I love to photograph gulls.
Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.
I like gulls. I especially like being able to see them up close when the opportunities arise and will take advantage of my close proximity by taking portraits of these beautiful but often disliked birds.
Five years ago today I photographed this Great Egret foraging in a wrack line along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida at Fort De Soto.
Laughing Gulls are quite noisy when they are in a flock but I never minded listening to them, in fact they often made me laugh.
Both of these Laughing Gull images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida, the image above shows a Laughing gull in nonbreeding plumage that was taken in September of 2008.
Okay, I admit it. I think gulls are beautiful and this California Gull sure looked that way bathing! Look at those bright white feathers, the dark sparkling eyes rimmed in red, the darker contrasting gray feathers, the color and shape of the bill. What's not to like about that?
Five years ago today I was laying in the warm wet sands of Fort De Soto County Park's north beach as the salty water from the Gulf of Mexico soaked my skin while photographing a Ruddy Turnstone doing what they do best, turning things.
Just a simple image today that I have always liked because of the action even though I don't have great eye contact with my subject, a Ring-billed Gull.