{"id":48875,"date":"2017-10-10T05:45:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T11:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48875"},"modified":"2025-02-08T05:46:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T11:46:37","slug":"dorsal-view-of-a-ring-billed-gull-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/10\/dorsal-view-of-a-ring-billed-gull-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull in Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just a simple post today of a simple bird, a dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull in flight over a water feature at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-139539 size-full\" title=\"Dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718.jpg\" alt=\"Dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" 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\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It was wonderful to photograph this gull against a clear, blue sky instead of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/06\/franklins-and-ring-billed-gulls-flying-in-smoky-skies\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">smoky skies<\/span><\/a> we had this summer.\u00a0 Since our weather cooled down fires haven&#8217;t been as big an issue here in Utah but I feel for our California neighbors who are going through some hellish fires as I write this.<\/p>\n<p>If I have the opportunity to photograph gulls I will, it is as simple as that. They are beautiful, albeit noisy, birds that are graceful in flight. When I don&#8217;t have gulls around I actually miss them, I&#8217;m not even sure that I would enjoy living in a location where there weren&#8217;t gulls.<\/p>\n<p>When I am asked by new bird photographers about how to become proficient in taking flight shots I often say find some gulls and &#8220;practice, practice, practice&#8221; because gulls are widespread, easily found and they fly past frequently.\u00a0 If you can nail gulls in flight you can nail most birds in flight.<\/p>\n<p>Ring-billed Gulls overwinter here in northern Utah and I look forward to photographing them on snow, ice and floating on frigid waters.\u00a0 I was happy to photograph this Ring-billed Gull in flight yesterday just after it turned over the water to check out some grebes below it because it gave me such a nice view of its back, tops of its wings, its eye and its snowy white tail.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/ring-billed-gull-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">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":"<p>Just a simple post today of a simple bird, a dorsal view of a Ring-billed Gull in flight over a water feature at Farmington Bay WMA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139539,"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":[27,1022,697,410,26],"tags":[4004,970,2069,2150,4620,4052,4122,3539,521,4264,4094,4246,4468,4018,4095],"class_list":["post-48875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-ring-billed-gulls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-blue-sky","tag-dorsal-view","tag-fall","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-sky","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-4718.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cIj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34428,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/23\/ring-billed-gulls-in-flight-in-varying-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":0},"title":"Ring-billed Gulls in Flight in Varying Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past week I have been able to photograph several Ring-billed Gulls in flight in varying light and like the way they turned out.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull flying in a partly cloudy sky, Farmington Bay WMA in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-9589.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-9589.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-9589.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-9589.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75384,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/17\/you-know-you-are-a-gull-lover-when\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":1},"title":"You Know You Are A Gull Lover When&#8230;","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"You take photos of ten species of birds and the twelve photos of a Ring-billed Gull in flight are the images you are the most excited to view when you get home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Ring-billed Gull in flight on an autumn morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-adult-flight-farmington-mia-mcpherson-3647.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-adult-flight-farmington-mia-mcpherson-3647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-adult-flight-farmington-mia-mcpherson-3647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-adult-flight-farmington-mia-mcpherson-3647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60395,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/22\/remarkably-symmetrical-molt-in-a-ring-billed-gull\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":2},"title":"Remarkably Symmetrical Molt In A Ring-Billed Gull","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Not only was this Ring-billed Gull in molt it was molting in a remarkably symmetrical pattern which I found interesting. Because the gull was in flight the symmetry was very visible.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Symmetrical molt in a Ring-billed Gull, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-molting-mia-mcpherson-4986.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-molting-mia-mcpherson-4986.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-molting-mia-mcpherson-4986.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-molting-mia-mcpherson-4986.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6318,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":3},"title":"Ring-billed Gull On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had a bit of fun photographing this Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, I love the snowy whites these gulls exhibit in their plumage year round","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banking Ring-billed Gull against a clear blue sky, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-0276.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-mia-mcpherson-0276.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-flight-mia-mcpherson-0276.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107330,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/17\/calling-ring-billed-gull-tongue\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":4},"title":"Calling Ring-billed Gull Tongue","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month I had the opportunity to take portraits of a calling Ring-billed Gull while I was looking for birds at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Ring-billed Gull showing its tongue, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ring-billed-gull-calling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-6024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ring-billed-gull-calling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-6024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ring-billed-gull-calling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-6024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ring-billed-gull-calling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-6024.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41251,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/23\/adult-and-juvenile-ring-billed-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":48875,"position":5},"title":"Adult and Juvenile Ring-billed Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It will take several molts before this immature Ring-billed Gull looks like an adult but by now, a year after it was photographed, this juvenile should look more like the adult.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Ring-billed Gull in flight on a January morning, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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