Ring Billed with Snack

Gallery: AvianPosted November 9, 2014275 views7 comments

I captured this Ring-Billed Gull just as he plucked this dead fish from the water. There were several dead fish floating on the river and the gulls were taking advantage. It was getting late day and the light was fading fast. I went back to the same spot the next day and nothing was going on. I just liked the action this shot shows.

Thanks for looking; any comments & suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Larger image provided for detail.
Canon 40D
Canon 400mm 5.6
1/2000
f/5.6
ISO 400
HH
Processed with Lightroom 5.6, CS5

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Jean C Cajolet on November 9, 2014 at 11:16 PM

Beautiful light, details and capture. I like it.

Registered on April 28, 2014, 53 Posts, 532 Comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on November 10, 2014 at 4:32 AM

Nice moment captured, Steve.
Very good details, nice wing position.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on November 10, 2014 at 12:03 PM

Like the action and splashes -- good choice of speed -- bird is well positioned in the frame and good job stopping the action at the right time.

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on November 10, 2014 at 12:49 PM

Good stopping of the action! Like the position of the wings. Be nice if you could squeeze out just a bit more detail in the head of the gull. Shows that a common bird can be caught in a new pose. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on November 11, 2014 at 3:39 PM

Sweet action Steve, that's quite a large fish for a gull and the splash adds a lot to the shot. I was going to say go for a tighter crop to emphasize the bird and action but with a 40D it might not hold up all that well.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on November 12, 2014 at 1:19 AM

Lovely capture, Steve. The sense of action is very good. And the size of the fish is amazing.

Your description of the dead fish reminds me of the hordes of Ring-billeds that would descend on lower Lake Michigan when the alewives would die off and wash ashore in dunes. The birds would get so filled with dead fish they couldn't fly.

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on November 12, 2014 at 8:12 PM

Nice action Steve....my first thoughts mimic Nate's and had the same thought as him when I looked at the techs.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments