Lee's Photoblog
Seagulls Enjoy Silly Frolics Also
Posted by Lee (Fort Frances Ontario, Canada) on 17 April 2009 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.
I was not sure what this seagull was doing. It would lift out of the water about 4-5 feet and flop back into it. This was the most interesting photo I acquired. It looks like the bird is about to lift out of the water. There is a lot of splashing around it. In reality the bird has just flopped into the water.
It would bob and float for a bit then lift and splash back in again. It amused me for a while. And I'm quite pleased with the shots I got.
Thank you for visiting my site. I consider myself to be lucky living where I do. Everyday I wake up to a wealth of interesting visual scenarios. Most of my pictures are Wildlife and Nature taken from around the area. The area specifically being Fort Frances Ontario on beautiful Rainy Lake. Feel free to comment on what you see. I look forward to hearing from you. If you like what you see, please rate it. Better yet, bookmark the site and drop back often. I will be posting daily.
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@Lydie et Roland: Thank you.
LauraS from Chico, United States
Excellent shot. Love the bird. Love the water, too.
17 Apr 2009 5:25am
@LauraS: Thank you Laura.
jamesy from christchurch, New Zealand
well done Lee its fantastic. Out of curiousity what camera speed were you using
17 Apr 2009 8:22am
@jamesy: Thank you Debbie. I shoot all my shots on manual. I do not have a modern lens, information is not captured when I use my 400mm lens. I think it would be about f8-f11 and about 1/500- 1/250 sec exposure. That is usually about where I shoot.
"Marie" :-) from perth, Australia
Amazing action capture. Very artistic and very beautifully shown.
17 Apr 2009 8:53am
@"Marie" :-): Thank you very much Marie.
@Beat: Thank you
@Sarah: Thanks Sarah.
Linerberry from Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand
Landing gear down?? Well I think so!!! What a superb capture of a gret landing moment!!! I don't know how you do it Lee, keeping such clarity in the shot!!! Fantastic!!
17 Apr 2009 9:55am
@Linerberry: Thanks Liners. But know one sees the duds that it took to get the one thats acceptable.
@mohkum: Thank you very much.
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
So alluring and beautiful, you took it magnificently ;)
17 Apr 2009 10:21am
@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine. I appreciate your compliment.
@Veronique: Thank you very much.
Marion from Cincinnati, United States
you should be pleased with it Lee :) it is a splendid shot! maybe the seagull had a date later that day and wanted to be nice and clean :)
17 Apr 2009 11:45am
@Marion: Thanks Marion. I actually thought it might just be fun and bath day. I never considered it having to get all gussied up and clean for a date.
@eva: Thank you.
Eric Cousineau from Sherwood Park, Canada
Great shot Lee! Fabulous detail. Maybe it was just bath day! ;-))
17 Apr 2009 1:08pm
@Eric Cousineau: Yes, that very well could be. I truly do not know what it was doing. I obsevered this about 10-15 minutes before I gave up watching. I have noticed it a few times since.
john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Terrific capture. Have a great weekend, Lee.
17 Apr 2009 1:25pm
@john4jack: Thanks Jack. You enjoy yours also.
Tony Duque from Raleigh, United States
Wonderful shot, Lee!... both technically and artistically. I'm surprised no one (as yet) has commented on the bird's behavior, which you observed and described. Let me throw this out for consideration - perhaps the bird was engaged in a deep-cleaning effort... intentionally hitting the water forcefully with the intention of really getting its feathers saturated to the skin... or perhaps trying to dislodge parasites. This is rank speculation on my part... I'll report back on anything I learn from a little Google search. Thanks for sharing another really terrific picture!!
17 Apr 2009 2:23pm
@Tony Duque: I have observed this behavior a lot. It was not cleaning itself. I have watched them wash and rinse on what could be called bath time. That is not what was happening. It would just lift straight up 4-5 feet and drop back to the water. I have watched seagulls trying to dive for something,(another funny sight) but that is not what it was doing. It just intrigued me. Thank you for commenting. Have a great weekend.
Ajay from Pune, India
Superb capture. I love the way you've clicked it, just in time.
17 Apr 2009 2:41pm
@Ajay: Thanks Ajay, that's is why they put the consecutive shoot button there for me. Even then it is a crap shoot. It's all luck.
Kathe from Marquette, Michigan, United States
Hmmm...perhaps trying to catch a fish? Then again, perhaps not. Gulls seem to prefer someone else do the catching for them, scavengers that they are.
17 Apr 2009 3:23pm
@Kathe: It's head as you can see is still above water. It was not diving, it just ploppled into the water.
@Eleftheria: Thank you.
@Elena Kotrotsou: It was a great time just watching this. It was all luck to catch it just like this. Thank you for the compliment.
@Moridi: Thank you Moridi.
Don from spokane, United States
A fine capture of the "right" moment to get these wings in such an appealing position. This is a wonderful catch... one anyone on here would envy and mutter to him/herself: "I wish I had taken that!"
17 Apr 2009 4:44pm
@Don: Thanks Don. I really do appreciate the compliment/
B. Thomas from Arlington, Texas, United States
The wings look so graceful. I hope he was not hurt. Very nice photo.
17 Apr 2009 11:53pm
@B. Thomas: It was not hurt. It just kept repeating this over and over.
mats from Texas, United States
I'm with Kathe, the last I had the chance of watching one, he dives for food and fly out again.. It's just a thought. Nevertheless, this is an amazing capture. The soft white background and of course the position of those wings.
18 Apr 2009 4:49am
@mats: Thanks Mats, but it was not diving.
Photosanity from Folsom, United States
An amazing capture. I am suprised the water was so still around it if it kept bouncing in and out of the water.
Did you see anything that might have had it "trapped" and unable to lift off totally?
18 Apr 2009 5:05am
@Photosanity: It was not hurt, it was not trapped. It would fly up about 5 feet above the water and drop back into it. It was not diving.
Lesley from Lincoln, United States
Love the ripples on the water. Marvelous shot!
20 Apr 2009 2:07am
@Lesley: Thanks Lesley.
@Sandrine: Thank you very much.
Diane Schuller from Hythe, Canada
I think this is an enviable capture -- well done
21 Apr 2009 2:04am
@Diane Schuller: Thank you very much Diane. Drop by again.
