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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Greyheaded Gull

While on holiday recently, Rina and I spent a good couple of days on the beach.  While Rina plodged in the waves, I sat on the sand with my camera at the ready. 

The most birds on the beach were Grey-headed Gulls. (there were a couple of plovers but I'm still looking for their definite identification before posting.) 

I first captured an adult gull sitting quite close to me on the sand...
Grey-headed Gull (breeding adult)
Nearby was a non-breeding (or juvenile) adult which defended its territory with vigor! 

Then as I pointed and focused and snapped I captured several interesting interactions between the non-breeding (young) adult and the breeding adult right in front of me! Soon several other gulls appeared - whether to watch the altercations or not, I'm not sure. 
 Then the first non-breeding adult dive bombed another non-breeding adult which had found a morsel of food on the sand
A breeding adult gives chase while the first  two non-breeding adult take flight; another gull swoops in from the north!
The original juvenile made a turn and came back to chase his pursuer away from its patch
 The victor swoops down and grabs a tidbit that I'd thrown for it
 Meanwhile another breeding adult flew over me 
Don't you just love the way it cocks its head?

The first non-breeding adult scoops another morsel on the sand, the second non-breeding adult in hot pursuit while the breeding adult dives down to see what it could glean

Time for a short rest
And then a determined step before taking off into the air again
The breeding adult flies in ...
... but decides to fly past me
While the territorial non-breeding adult came straight for me! 

I'm linking my post to Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart Monckton here

Happy Wednesday to you all! 

9 comments:

  1. Hello Jo, the Greyheaded Gull is pretty. Awesome collection of images. I love being at the beach! Have a happy day!

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  2. Wonderful shot of the bird...

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  3. they're quite pretty with their grey head!

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  4. my favorite are number 5 and the very last one, they are in the air. super shots on all of these, Jo... and that sand and surf looks so beautiful

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  5. Great photos! What a delightful time to spend on the beach with a loved one!

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  6. A great series of shots and my favourite if your name was not on it, is the last one.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo