{"id":47548,"date":"2017-07-03T04:51:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T10:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47548"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T12:31:26","slug":"preening-ring-billed-gull-in-a-snow-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/03\/preening-ring-billed-gull-in-a-snow-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"Preening Ring-billed Gull in a Snow Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"July<\/p>\n

It is going to be hot here in the Salt Lake Valley this week, not as hot as it will be south of here but plenty hot enough. Escaping to cooler temps here can be as easy as heading up into the nearby mountains or going north on a camping trip.<\/p>\n

\"Ring-billedRing-billed Gull preening in a snow storm \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 1000, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When it gets this hot I like to look at images I have taken on cooler days to remind me of how refreshing the winter temps can be compared to the heat of summer.<\/p>\n

I photographed this preening Ring-billed Gull in a snow storm in January of this year at a pond near where I live and it was pretty chilly that day. I’d been hoping for a snow storm with wet, fluffy snowflakes because they show up in images better than the finer, drier snowflakes do. I had a blast photographing gulls, ducks and geese on that snowy January morning.<\/p>\n

Just looking at this Ring-billed Gull<\/span><\/a> image makes me feel invigorated and refreshed.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I photographed this preening Ring-billed Gull in a snow storm in January of this year at a pond near where I live and it was pretty chilly that day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142562,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,410,709,26],"tags":[5948,3539,521,5947,4264,4019,4468,4081,4050,4509,8018,5541],"class_list":["post-47548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ring-billed-gulls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-forecast","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-high-temps","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-preening-2","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-salt-lake-valley","tag-snow","tag-snow-storm","tag-urban","tag-willow-pond"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ring-billed-gull-preening-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7136.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cmU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49939,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/17\/ring-billed-gulls-flying-in-a-december-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":47548,"position":0},"title":"Ring-billed Gulls Flying in a December Snow Storm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The light wasn't great when I photographed these Ring-billed Gulls flying in a December snow storm but I had a great time with the gulls and the rest of the birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Ring-billed Gull flying in a snow storm, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.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-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-flight-snow-mia-mcpherson-5867.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76226,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/17\/serious-looking-ring-billed-gull-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":47548,"position":1},"title":"Serious Looking Ring-billed Gull On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I love photographing gulls. Whether they are feeding, resting, preening, fighting, calling, or in flight gulls are one of my favorite bird species to have in my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Serious looking Ring-billed Gull in flight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.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-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-fluffy-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"January 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Three frames later I was glad this Ring-billed Gull's rotund belly caught my eye when through my viewfinder I could see the gull preening while in flight which is unusual behavior in my experience.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull preening breast feathers in flight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-preening-mia-mcpherson-6517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-preening-mia-mcpherson-6517.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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