black headed gull

I've just carried out a census of my Gallery photos. Black Headed Gull tops the list with 79 so far, so here's number 80!

Still 95% are winter plumage but the odd one looks ready for breeding.

An unusual trio today. This is a favourite haunt for Gulls. They alwasy line up facing the same way!

... photographing these birds. I need Chroicocephalus Ridibundus Anonymous!

Blach Headed Gull

One of the few decent action shots I got at this location. Nothing like a bit of bread to get Black Headed Gulls squabbling (not that they need a lot of encouragement to start squabbling). Cropped for composition, no other changes.

These birds know where the food is and they bunch up in a crowd around it.

Ok, not a black head but a brown hood, but I was surprised to see this bird so near to its breeding plumage in January.

Gulls are the only birds that seem not bothered by the freeze. The waders disappear; the waterfowl swim on the tiny non-frozen bits; and the Gulls just sit and wait!

Took this picture mainly because it showed the lake they were on was frozen, a rare event in the English Riviera! Then I noticed the rings, did a bit of research and managed to contact the ringer - in Denmark. Apparently he (the gull) was ringed in 1996 in the Baltic when he was at least 3 yrs...

This one looks a bit less confident of itself - like a Duck out of water!

I never tire of these birds, with their red bills, and they keep coming close for photographs.

Moving on to this year's first visit to Slimbridge and at last some pictures. When it comes to birds, you can rely on Slimbridge for three things - Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws and Gulls! This one has a tiny bit of its juvenile brown plumage left and still has the orange coloured bill and legs.

Slip sliding away!

Red-billed sounded a bit more accurate than Black-headed! First thing in the morning, just waking up, this bird was relatively unalert.

My favourite age for this Gull. Still some of the juvenile brown left.

Was tryin gout my 300mm lens that i had forgotten about and not used in a very long time. Was shooting into the sun when this gull came along. This photo gaev me no end of trouble as I couldnt get the composition right. In the end decided to keep it almost as I took it.

My second shot of the Gull entered earlier.

There are a lot of Black Headed Gulls in winter plumage at my local Nature Reserve.This one came in very close.

I love to watch the birds om the ice. Their antics can be so funny.