{"id":109376,"date":"2023-01-06T04:18:04","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T11:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109376"},"modified":"2024-11-14T18:37:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T00:37:31","slug":"immature-herring-gull-testing-the-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/06\/immature-herring-gull-testing-the-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature American Herring Gull Testing The Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was January 6, 2021, when I photographed this immature American Herring Gull testing the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. I’d left home while it was still dark and the stars were visible in the night sky. When the sun peeked over the Wasatch Mountains I had just turned west to head out to the auto tour loop at the refuge. It was a bright, beautiful, and serene morning. Or so I thought.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature American Herring Gull testing the ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I pretty much had the auto tour loop to myself, I took my time photographing the birds I found out on the marshes. I listened to the ice cracking, my tires crunching on the snowy road, and the calls of the birds that rang over the marsh.<\/p>\n

Before I found this young American Herring Gull I photographed a few Rough-legged Hawks, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, a few Northern Harriers and a single Barn Owl from a great distance.<\/p>\n

On the west side of the auto tour loop I found Ring-billed, California and American Herring Gulls feeding, resting, and congregating on ice shelves near stretches of open water. I had a blast photographing all of the gulls there that cold but peaceful morning. I love gulls and I\u2019ll photograph them whenever I have the opportunity. I believe that gulls are every bit as beautiful and fascinating as any other bird species I find in my viewfinder. I don\u2019t drive or walk past them without taking at least a few images of gulls.<\/p>\n

I came across this American Herring Gull image yesterday while looking at images I had taken on January 6th of past years and decided to share it today. I loved how the gull’s left foot was raised and how it looked like the gull was testing the strength of the ice at the water’s edge.<\/p>\n

After a wonderfully quiet morning spent on the marsh with the birds I headed home feeling calm, delighted, and rejuvenated.<\/p>\n

I didn’t know what was happening at our nation’s capitol on that date until after I returned home. When I got back home I felt terror as I watched the live videos of the January 6th insurrection at our nation\u2019s capitol. I was horrified.<\/p>\n

Today some of the people serving in public office still<\/em> support the actions of the violent insurrectionists that invaded our capitol on that infamous day. Those people aren’t patriots. They are traitors.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Herring Gulls photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was January 6, 2021, when I photographed this immature American Herring Gull testing the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1299,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[1589,3539,521,4064,4067,13599,13600,4317,4094,13598,3996,4095,373,4193],"class_list":["post-109376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-herring-gull","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-ice","tag-immature","tag-insurrection","tag-january-6th","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-marsh","tag-testing","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t