Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
I don’t normally take pics of these very common birds but sometimes they can put on a nice show. Taken back in February, a local pond was thawing out and revealing a bounty of frozen shad as it did. The area birds took notice and they were working hard at getting the fish out of the ice. When one was successful, a chase almost always ensued.
It would appear this ring-billed gull is trying to horn in on the bald eagle’s Freedom Friday. 😉
Last month I spent a number of days photographing the bird action at a pond. It was beginning to thaw and in doing so, revealing a feast of frozen fish. The gulls and crows would work hard to dig the fish out of the slush and that drew the attention of area bald eagles.
As many as 10 of the massive raptors would hang out, just waiting for their opportunity. When the smaller birds would get a fish out, the eagles would swoop in and steal the meal.
It appeared this gull decided it had enough of having its hard work stolen and when a bald eagle did a flyby, it set off in pursuit, letting the thief know it wasn’t welcome. Definitely a gutsy gull!
You spend your afternoon doing some nice, quiet ice fishing and finally get a nice little catch. As you leave to go enjoy your meal, sure enough, some other loud, obnoxious fisherman tries to assault you and steal your hard-earned dinner.
Such was the scenario played out between these two birds this past weekend. As a pond thawed, it revealed a bounty of fish for the birds. Dozens of gulls and a half dozen crows, pecked at the slush, digging out fish that had frozen over the winter.
It was a lot of fun to watch them as when one got a meal, it was sure to draw attention and soon, the chase would be on. It was very reminiscent of Finding Nemo and the gulls trying to make a meal of Nemo’s dad and Dori saying, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” 😀
A common bird we see plenty of here on the Colorado Front Range. They are kind of fun to watch although I don’t usually photograph them. This one and its friends were patrolling an open patch of water on a frozen lake recently. As they spotted something below, they would make a daring dive down to the water, hoping to come up with a little meal.
I have no idea what kind of gull this is but was pretty darned persistent trying to fish a local pond. While I waited for my favorite raptors to appear, I used it for a bit of camera target practice. I loved its bright white plumage against those beautiful, deep, blue Colorado skies.
Not a type of bird I would normally train my camera on but the Gulls were very active working this one small spot of open water recently and provided some good photo ops. I like this capture quite a bit as the back-lighting really gives the bird a bit of a glow to it and showcases its pretty plumage. This is a Ring-billed Gull, probably the most common type you would see here in Colorado.
It isn’t often that I train my camera on these common birds. They are noisy and can make quite a mess so I usually just ignore them. However on Sunday morning while out taking pictures with my son, a few came flying overhead. With the golden light of sunrise on them they looked quite beautiful and their graceful, soaring flight pattern allowed a few nice captures.
There were dozen’s of Franklin’s Gulls at this spot this past week, something I had not noticed in previous years although I may have just not been paying attention. 😉 You can learn more about these small gulls here.
Ring-billed Gull pulls a fish from the ice of a pond in Colorado. I watched it peck away at the thawing ice and eventually pull a shad from it. These gulls can be found across much of North America and are the most common type of gull found in inland areas.
A juvenile Bald Eagle pursues a Ring-billed Gull that had just snatched a fish from a pond. No doubt the gull was quite alarmed to look back and see this large raptor giving chase. The gull in fact dropped the fish and immediately took evasive maneuvers to escape (and was successful in doing so). Image taken this past Sunday at a pond near Denver, Colorado, USA where gulls and eagles had gathered to fish.
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