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I thought I'd take the camera out to the beach and shoot some feathered friends this weekend. I actually know very little about the seagulls we have around here, i.e. what kind they are, how many different kinds, other than that they're noisy, nasty, and RUDE. Do NOT try to carry food around outside near the beach, they will come take it right out of your hand!
Anyway, the idea was to shoot a bunch of them and learn to identify them, because apparently there are 5 or 6 species of gull common to Florida. I've always just known them as seagulls.
Oh, another reason I like to go down to the beach and shoot is.... because I can!!!! I know a lot of folks are starting to hunker down indoors because the places they go to actually have water sitting outdoors in a solid state. Unimaginable! So, if it's getting cold where you live...... tough!
We have a couple of kinds here, some with a black head and some without. Turns out they are the same species, the Laughing Gull, characterized by black bill and legs. So I was following some as they hovered in the breeze, which makes them pretty easy to take a picture of, actually.....
From a distance I saw a bunch of them down on the beach, walking, resting, whatever, and realized that some of them were different. I took a bit of a walk and got close enough to see the "different" birds, not yet knowing what they were.
The orange-beaked birds are Royal Terns, and I was lucky enough to get a couple in flight, as well. They don't hover in the breeze, though, so I had to work at it....
Another one by himself on the beach:
The gull in this shot was watching the girl in the center chair, who had a bag of chips in her hand. He actually stole one from her as her hand came out of the bag, scared her to death. I missed it, though. Instead of standing there with a camera pointed at them like a stalker, I told them that I was going to point the camera in their direction for a scenic shot, and the bird got the chip before I was ready. She put them away and I didn't get another chance.
And speaking of how many species of a single type of bird can there be, let's talk about sandpipers! So many of them are so close together in appearance that it's very frustrating for a newbie like me. That said, I think this is a Ruddy Turnstone.
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