Even though a few inconsiderate individuals got a little under my skin, I did manage to shoot some well-dressed avian types yesterday afternoon(click the images to view them larger).
It is a great time of year to go down to the beach - I've said this many times before (though probably not here) but Laughing Gulls are really quite spectacular in March and April. Yesterday they must have been coming back from the landfill while I was there because I got to shoot quite a few in flight. It would have been absolutely spectacular had the wind been coming from the northwest but it was out of the south which meant they were usually landing at an oblique angle to the light. Went back today with the wind coming from the opposite direction but somebody forgot to tell the birds. In a little less than 2 hours today I only made 11 exposures, all of Royal Terns (see below).
Always noisy, the Laughing Gulls are especially so this time of year; cackling, posturing, and chasing each other around. Sort of amusing to watch really. Copulating sometimes, too (sorry but they were facing away from the light and this is a PG blog anyway so you wouldn't see anything here even if I had it). The poor Ring-billed Gulls must feel like second class citizens; seems as if the only one's left around here now are drab looking immatures. Most of them will hang around all summer while the adults are off breeding somewhere up north.
The longest span without someone coming along to chase the birds away was after the 3rd time they flushed. I lucked out this time and didn't have to move because they settled back down in the same general vicinity. That made things easier since I wouldn't have to sneak up on them again - they were coming to me. During this time a few more large groups were arriving from the west and after several minutes passed I not only had gulls in front of me but they were beginning to surround me. In these situations it is kind of cool to become part of the landscape and be ignored (for the most part, anyway). Having said that, I'd really prefer to be at the edge of the group because when you are surrounded it is difficult to isolate birds and the images are just too cluttered.
At one point I glanced at the birds on my immediate right and somehow picked this one out of the crowd. I wonder if this bird would have a story to tell if it could talk? (if it hasn't jumped out at you look at the left foot). At least 3 years old, I wonder when it happened. Did it hatch this way or is it the result of an injury? It was preening as I watched, would hop around as the group moved, seemed to me as if it had adapted since it was behaving no differently that the rest. I also have images from about 3 years ago of an immature Western Gull I saw at Bolsa Chica Beach (California) that was also missing a foot and often wondered if it had a story to tell, too.
Of course the Laughing Gulls aren't the only sharp-dressed birds this time of year - the adult Royal Terns are looking pretty good, too. Which got me thinking, I know we have 2, 3, and 4-year gulls, what about terns? (short pause for a research break) Okay, I'm back and it looks like Royal Terns don't breed until their 5th or 6th year though they don't gp through the same sort of plumage variations as gulls. By the second summer immatures will look much like breeding adults though the black feathers on the skull cap will be white tipped. (See, this blog is not only fun but edumacational, too!)
This is one of the 11 images I made today - this Royal's bill clearly darker than the rest of the group that it was hanging out with so it was a priority to try and make some images of this bird. When I first saw it I was hoping "Caspian" but was also pretty certain that it was very unlikely for a member of that species to be there. Stranger things have happened though.
Oh well, maybe today we will have another sunny afternoon with favorable sea breezes and I'll go do it again. Or I might just go anyway. It's early but who knows, maybe some Knots will turn up.
