BIRDS 123 – HERRING GULL (MONO)
November 30, 2019 17 Comments
Herring Gull around refuse and recycling bins in Weston town centre; possibly not too happy with my presence … LOL! >>> I grew up here, these birds were always around, they were a part of my childhood, and I have to confess to a great fondness for them, quite regardless of any aggression on their part. If I’d been eating fish and chips, I would have certainly shared them with him – and probably outraged the (more or less mindless and unimaginative, it has to be said) local authorities by doing so.
But, looking at things another way, here is a very successful creature, certainly at home on the coast and inland waters, but also, equally, at home scavenging around human habitation – LOL again!!! >>> unless absolutely desperate (after a nuclear holocaust, perhaps???), I wouldn’t want to eat the rotting refuse he’s eating, whereas he will take both the refuse and my fish and chips – and me too if I were moribund or actually dead (starting with my eyes, most probably …) ->>> and he’d do so with great alacrity!
Quite simply, he is very good at what he does. Most of society – sitting in front of TV’s and becoming increasingly estranged from the natural world – no doubt find him abhorrent, but I admire his expertise – years ago, I read that if function is beauty, then the Spotted Hyaena (a truly voracious predator and hardly the world’s most aesthetic organism, even I will admit) >>> well I read that if function is beauty, then the hyaena is beautiful, and some similar sentiment also applies here. I know, I’m a Silly Old Romantic, I know …. but gull and chips might actually be quite tasty … with a little salt and tomato sauce …. of course …..
And, as I’ve said before on this blog, in a parallel universe, if I were eating my tasty gull and chips beside the sea, maybe a fish would jump up out of the water and steal it …..
All recent bird pictures are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it – recommended.
Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 3200 ISO; in-camera conversion of raw file using the Graphite profile and cropping; Weston-super-Mare, Somerset; 22 Nov 2019.
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Wow, thank you for the laugh! File under “Ya can’t make this stuff up!” 🙂 I could say the same for your text but of course, you CAN make this stuff up. Gull and chips, fish grabs it, Adrian’s going off the deep end….. all is as it should be.
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Thank you, my friend, always very glad to bring on laughter!!! And yes, I can make it up. My mind often runs riot, and I often just let it. Scenario 3 would be the gull and the fish peacefully coexisting by the sea, a utopian ideal >>> and The FATman emerging suddenly and voraciously from the deep end, where he had been masquerading as an empty oil drum, and stealing them both. 🙂
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Can hear this gull 😁 fun capture Adrian ~ smiles Hedy ☺️
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Haha, yes, the noise it was making, it could probably be heard all over the country!!! But that’s fine with me. Glad you like this, Hedy, thank you. A 🙂
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Brilliant!! 🙂
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Thank you!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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You made me like him by your writing and your capture 🙂
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GOOD!!! >>> I’m so happy that my writing made you look at him with different eyes!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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“I’m a Silly Old Romantic” too…love your stories, dear Adrian!! (…the smile continues…)
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Hahaha!!! … VERY glad to hear my stories get to you, my dear – I enjoy writing them down! Silly Old Romantic? >>> the only way to be!!!
But be careful with that smile of your’s – too much and it’ll get STUCK!!!! 🙂
Seriously though, I do enjoy your posts. They always make me look and think more deeply, and that’s a valuable thing. I hope the three of you are all well and happy – I bet your child is really growing up now – wonderful! A 🙂
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…ohhh…can I smile again, just a bit?…hahahaha…
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We have them by the thousands here. You’re right, very efficient bird and quite photogenic (in the right light).
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Yes, gulls are ok – the white plumage is a problem in bright conditions. 🙂
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Unusual shot..I like it lots, although I am not fond of gulls!
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Glad it gets to you >>> even if the subject is iffy!!! 🙂
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The right moment and well framed! Cheers for the weekend.
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Harrie, thank you very much – and I a very good weekend to you too >>> tho we’re already nearly half way through it!!! A 🙂
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