{"id":5084,"date":"2012-06-02T03:55:50","date_gmt":"2012-06-02T09:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5084"},"modified":"2024-11-24T10:18:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T16:18:01","slug":"herring-gulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/02\/herring-gulls\/","title":{"rendered":"American Herring Gulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two American Herring Gulls at different stages of life, one is\u00a0an adult in breeding plumage, the other an immature gull in flight.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Herring Gull in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

An exposed sandbar, soft morning light and the warm turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the background were the perfect setting for this adult American Herring Gull in breeding plumage. When I saw this bird from the water after coming around a clump of mangroves I just knew I ached for the opportunity to photograph it so I had to be careful not to alarm the gull or risk scaring it away.<\/p>\n

My approach was slow & low, on my knees in the shallows, pausing to allow the bird to adjust to my presence and then creeping forward again. When I got within range I was able to lay down in the water with my elbows braced on the sandy bottom to keep my gear up and out of the gentle waves. Was my cautious approach, getting soaked to the skin and having sand creep into my pants, top, and water shoes worth it? I think so.<\/p>\n

\"1stImmature American Herring Gull in flight – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 210mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was standing up when I photographed this immature American Herring Gull<\/span><\/a> which allowed me to turn as I tracked it in flight.<\/p>\n

An interesting fact: American Herring Gulls live at least 35<\/strong> years.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Herring Gulls photos\u00a0 plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) at different stages of life, one an adult in breeding plumage, the other an immature gull in flight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134020,"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":[1299,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,1589,4039,4053,14752,4052,4122,173,4077,3539,521,4067,4317,4017,14695,3996,4193],"class_list":["post-5084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-herring-gull","tag-beach","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-coastal-island","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-immature","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-sand","tag-sandbar","tag-water","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-adult-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1k0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107838,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/08\/winter-california-and-herring-gull-comparison-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":5084,"position":0},"title":"Winter California And American Herring Gull Comparison In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I frequently get asked which is which I thought this would be a good time to do a winter California and American Herring Gull comparison and ID feature post.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Herring Gull - California Gull Comparison and ID Features, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/15\/my-arkansas-american-herring-gull-sighting\/","url_meta":{"origin":5084,"position":1},"title":"My Arkansas American Herring Gull Sighting","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This past week, I had my first ever Arkansas American Herring Gull sighting. I was outdoors when several of these gulls were high overhead, too high for photos.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Herring Gull in nonbreeding plumage flying by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/herring-gull-flight-over-ice-mia-mcpherson-0716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/herring-gull-flight-over-ice-mia-mcpherson-0716.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/herring-gull-flight-over-ice-mia-mcpherson-0716.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/herring-gull-flight-over-ice-mia-mcpherson-0716.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":77626,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/11\/first-winter-herring-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":5084,"position":2},"title":"First Winter American Herring Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently wrote about my excitement that American Herring Gulls have started showing up in northern Utah. Last week I was able to photograph some of them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter American Herring Gull on ice, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/herring-gull-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/06\/herring-gull-in-flight-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":5084,"position":3},"title":"American Herring Gull In Flight Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today, I drove the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR alone. One of the birds I photographed that winter morning was this close-up adult Herring Gull in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter American Herring Gull in flight close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We have the Ring-billed and California Gulls in northern Utah year round but the Herring Gulls are only winter visitors to this area.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter American Herring Gull profile portrait, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-winter-mia-mcpherson-5451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-winter-mia-mcpherson-5451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-winter-mia-mcpherson-5451.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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