{"id":4594,"date":"2012-03-05T05:16:08","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T12:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4594"},"modified":"2021-07-25T11:11:23","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T17:11:23","slug":"franklins-gulls-feeding-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/05\/franklins-gulls-feeding-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin’s Gulls ~ Feeding Frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year while I was camping and photographing at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> I saw a feeding frenzy that involved Franklin’s and California Gulls in the flooded grasses and Sagebrush flats near the Lower Lake.<\/p>\n

\"ForagingForaging Franklin’s Gulls – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were hundreds of breeding plumage Franklin’s Gulls (Leucophaeus pipixcan<\/span><\/em>) in the field hovering, wading in the standing water and foraging. I still don’t know what it was they were feasting on.<\/p>\n

\"Hovering Hovering Franklin’s Gull – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1500, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

None of my images from that day show prey in the bill so my thoughts are that there could have been an insect hatch or perhaps there were tadpoles\u00a0in the flooded flats. I should have gotten out of the pickup and scanned the water to see what\u00a0the prey\u00a0was.<\/p>\n

The photo above shows the rosy pink wash that Franklin’s Gull have on their chest and belly when they are in breeding plumage.\u00a0 This is actually in the feather structure\u00a0there, not “on” them.<\/p>\n

\"Franklin'sFranklin’s Gull in flight – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/200, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 200mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope to see and photograph another feeding frenzy with the Franklin’s Gulls, if I do I will do my best to find out what prey item causes it.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Franklin\u2019s Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

For more information on why I love Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year while I was camping and photographing at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge I saw a feeding frenzy that involved Franklin’s and California Gulls in the flooded grasses and Sagebrush flats near the Lower Lake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_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":[27,1336,12,608],"tags":[4004,4053,4040,4227,4052,4122,4136,4329,3539,521,4174,4330,165,5434,5271],"class_list":["post-4594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-franklins-gulls","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-feeding","tag-feeding-frenzy","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-foraging","tag-franklins-gull","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-hovering-2","tag-leucophaeus-pipixcan","tag-spring","tag-valley","tag-wet-meadow"],"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