{"id":42825,"date":"2016-10-25T05:51:50","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T11:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42825"},"modified":"2025-07-13T07:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T12:04:10","slug":"laughing-gull-sliding-across-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/25\/laughing-gull-sliding-across-the-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughing Gull Sliding Across the Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-150257 size-full\" title=\"Laughing Gull slip sliding away\u2026 Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384.jpg\" alt=\"Laughing Gull slip sliding away\u2026 Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Laughing Gull slip sliding away&#8230; &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The day I photographed this Laughing Gull Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico some three hundred miles away from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsofftdesoto.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> and even though it was that far away the hurricane still affected us with string winds and choppy waves. All of the birds that were there that day were taking advantage of chasing the small bait fish that were being injured by the wave action and being pushed up to the shore, the gulls and the egrets seemed to be the most active.<\/p>\n<p>Of the images I took that day on the beach, and there were tons of them, this image of a Laughing Gull sliding across the water as it chased a fish in the shallow waves was one of my favorites. I know that the gull was just looking for and chasing down food but it sure looked like it was having fun when it slid across the surface of the water sideways on its feet. I wanted to get up off of the sand and try sliding sideways across the water myself after watching this gull.<\/p>\n<p>I know, some people really can&#8217;t stand gulls and some people won&#8217;t even slow down enough to photograph them or say they should but don&#8217;t, me; I love them and think they are great fun to photograph and beautiful birds too. A bird is a bird no matter what species it is and I can&#8217;t resist them.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/laughing-gull-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Laughing Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Photo taken September 12, 2008<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Of the images I took that day on the beach, and there were tons of them, this image of a Laughing Gull sliding across the water as it chased a fish in the shallow waves was one of my favorites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,188,2000],"tags":[4004,3539,521,1808,3995,4160,4246,4115,5493,2688,3996],"class_list":["post-42825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-laughing-gulls-gulls","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-hurricane-ike-2","tag-laughing-gull","tag-leucophaeus-atricilla","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-sea-birds","tag-sliding","tag-splashing","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-slip-sliding-mia-mcpherson-0384.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-b8J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5854,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/05\/laughing-gull-small-in-the-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":0},"title":"Laughing Gull &#8211; Small in the Frame","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On the day that I photographed this Laughing Gull either Hurricane Ike or Gustav was out near the center of the Gulf of Mexico that was churning up the water","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Laughing Gull, non-breeding, small in the frame, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-waves-mia-mcpherson-0186.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-waves-mia-mcpherson-0186.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-waves-mia-mcpherson-0186.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-waves-mia-mcpherson-0186.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1780,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/17\/reddish-egret-laughing-and-ring-billed-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":1},"title":"Reddish Egret, Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There were quite a few Laughing Gulls on and near the shoreline, a few Ring-billed Gulls and two Reddish Egrets hunting on the beach that day.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Florida&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret and Laughing Gulls, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/reddish-egret-laughing-gulls-mia-mcpherson-0341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/reddish-egret-laughing-gulls-mia-mcpherson-0341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/reddish-egret-laughing-gulls-mia-mcpherson-0341.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/reddish-egret-laughing-gulls-mia-mcpherson-0341.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6098,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/12\/4-years-ago-today-when-hurricane-ike-stirred-things-up-at-fort-de-soto\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":2},"title":"4 Years Ago Today When Hurricane Ike Stirred Things Up At Fort De Soto","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Four years ago today Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and the waves that it generated made a strong splash at Fort De Soto County Park.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret hunting, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-running-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-running-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-running-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-running-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29864,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/14\/the-ring-billed-gull-ballet\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":3},"title":"The Ring-billed Gull Ballet","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the bait fish skirmishes one solitary Ring-billed Gull stood out to me and as it flew after the Reddish Egret and Laughing Gulls I kept my lens trained on it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull Ballet, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-landing-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-landing-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-landing-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-landing-mia-mcpherson-0421.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8739,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/29\/laughing-gulls-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":4},"title":"Laughing Gulls in breeding and nonbreeding plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Both of these Laughing Gull images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida, the image above shows a Laughing gull in nonbreeding plumage that was taken in September of 2008.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nonbreeding Laughing Gull, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/laughing-gull-non-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0216.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14499,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/04\/adult-and-juvenile-laughing-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":42825,"position":5},"title":"Adult and juvenile Laughing Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flying adult Laughing Gull in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/laughing-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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