{"id":62556,"date":"2020-01-09T06:15:06","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T13:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62556"},"modified":"2024-11-24T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T15:27:59","slug":"focusing-on-herring-gulls-winter-visitors-to-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/09\/focusing-on-herring-gulls-winter-visitors-to-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On American Herring Gulls – Winter Visitors To Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GullsGulls on the edge of the ice at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 52mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know some people don’t get excited about gulls but I do and I was thrilled two days ago at Bear River MBR when I spotted and photographed my first American Herring Gulls of this winter season. While I photographed some of the Great Blue Herons on the frozen marshes<\/span><\/a> that I shared yesterday I was also photographing the Herring Gulls that I found. The gulls I saw were lined up at the edge of the ice shelves and were resting or fishing for prey in the open water.<\/p>\n

The photo above was taken with my Nikon D810 with a 18-200mm lens attached, I wanted a grand view of the mix of gull species, the ice, frozen marsh, snow-capped mountains, clouds and sky. The reflections of the mountains in the open water were a bonus. Some of the larger gulls are American Herring and some were California Gulls, the rest were Ring-billed.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Herring Gull lifting off from a shelf of ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/5000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

We only have American Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter, they do not breed in the state but they do migrate through the area and some may overwinter here.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to photograph this American Herring Gull as it ran across the shelf of ice and lifted off.<\/p>\n

I was disappointed that several of my American Herring Gull images were soft but I did see heat waves in the cold air outside the window of the “mobile blind” that I was in. When my sharp images of the gulls and herons were taken I noticed that there was a slight breeze blowing which moved the heat waves away from the front of my lens.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Herring Gull fishing for prey in a wintry marsh \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I took a series of what I presume was not the same American Herring Gull and I have to admit I was laughing when I took the series because it looked like the gull was falling into the water. I’d seen a Great Blue Heron almost fall into the icy water the day before and I thought this gull might have slipped on the ice like that heron did.<\/p>\n

The gull had other things on its mind though.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Herring Gull gulping down a fish \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Herring Gull caught a fish and gulped it down quickly before the other gulls saw that it had prey and before they could swipe its catch.<\/p>\n

I am hoping to add more photos of American Herring Gulls to my portfolio in the upcoming weeks. Despite the bad reputation of gulls I find them to be beautiful, challenging subjects that grab and hold my interest.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I know some people don’t get excited about gulls but I do and I was thrilled two days ago at Bear River MBR when I spotted and photographed my first Herring Gulls of this winter season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[1299,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,1589,5460,4333,4101,8273,4286,4432,4379,3983,3539,521,8272,5590,4064,4317,4944,4094,8271,4069,8301,8300,4106,4468,4018,4050,1963,5549,3996,373],"class_list":["post-62556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-herring-gull","tag-breeze","tag-california-gull","tag-clouds","tag-distortion","tag-eating","tag-fish","tag-fishing","tag-frost","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-gulping","tag-heat-waves","tag-ice","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-lifting-off","tag-marsh","tag-mixed","tag-mountains","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-prey","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-snow-covered-2","tag-swallowing","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-mbr-gulls-on-the-frozen-marsh-0585.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ggY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100028,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/16\/herring-gull-walking-on-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":62556,"position":0},"title":"American Herring Gull Walking On Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed this Herring Gull walking in ice from the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR on a bright but chilly sunny morning.","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 walking on ice at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.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":62556,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107838,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/08\/winter-california-and-herring-gull-comparison-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":62556,"position":2},"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":62556,"position":3},"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, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.","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 flying over Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.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-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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