This is a prepared post for while I am at the 2012 EAVP conference in Teruel.
What are you looking at, hu?
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) sceptically looking at the weird ape wriggling around on his belly on the beach.
As mentioned before, I often try to get nice photos of birds in flight, which is not that easy. One of the reasons is that using automatic exposure often means what I end up with is a black bird silhouette in a perfectly light-blue sky. Doh! Also, if I zoom in too far the delay between deciding to hit the release and the actual photo being taken, despite being only a very short time, often means that only parts of the birds make it into the picture. Oops!
Sometimes, however, fortune smiles on the photographer. For example at the Baltic Sea, in Zingst. There is a pier there from which many people feed the gulls. Stand on the beach below them, with the sun at your back and you can take photos like those below easily. The steady wind means that the gulls “stand” in the air, and need only maneuver a bit to get into good diving positions when people throw food for them.
The ‘Black Masks’ squadron getting ready for the dive-attack. The ensuing ACM is below the fold.
The squadron leader surveys the site for possible targets……..
… when an undesired “wingbird” closes up……
and…….DIVE!
The rest of the squadron joins the “furball”.
Bon appetit!
Love the images!!
Love the photos and indeed this species. There is a year-round population in Lincoln, where I went to university, and I always enjoyed watching them.
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