{"id":64929,"date":"2020-02-21T04:48:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T11:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=64929"},"modified":"2025-02-04T13:50:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:50:15","slug":"ring-billed-gull-landing-on-crystal-blue-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/21\/ring-billed-gull-landing-on-crystal-blue-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring-billed Gull Landing On Crystal Blue Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-139257 size-full\" title=\"Ring-billed Gull flying in to land on crystal blue water\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526.jpg\" alt=\"Ring-billed Gull flying in to land on crystal blue water, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%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-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Ring-billed Gull flying in to land on crystal blue water \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Two years ago there was snow on the ground, clear blue skies, low temps and plenty of birds to photograph at my local pond. The winter sky was reflected by the surface of the pond and in my photos it looked crystal blue.<\/p>\n<p>While looking through my photos from two years ago today I came across images of this Ring-billed Gull coming in for a landing and thought the gull looked perfect against the blue of the water.<\/p>\n<p>This Ring-bill Gull image is simple, clean, uncomplicated, and I believe it shows off the beauty of this species well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-139256 size-full\" title=\"Landing Ring-billed Gull and crystal blue water\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527.jpg\" alt=\"Landing Ring-billed Gull and crystal blue water, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27520%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20520%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27520%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-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-200x116.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-250x144.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-400x231.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-600x347.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-768x444.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527-800x462.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3527.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Landing Ring-billed Gull and crystal blue water \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This photo is the next image in the sequence and shows the Ring-billed Gull just before it touched down onto the surface of the pond.<\/p>\n<p>There isn&#8217;t any snow on the ground this morning and although the skies will be as clear today as they were back then I have other things on my plate this morning. Perhaps this afternoon I&#8217;ll be able to head down to the pond and photograph more birds coming in for a landing on crystal blue waters.<\/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>While looking through my photos from two years ago today I came across images of this Ring-billed Gull coming in for a landing and thought the gull looked perfect against the blue of the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139257,"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":[27,410,709,26],"tags":[4004,5011,4052,4122,3539,521,4264,1984,4468,3996,373],"class_list":["post-64929","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-adult","tag-blue-water","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-larus-delawarensis","tag-pond","tag-ring-billed-gull","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/ring-billed-gull-blue-water-mia-mpcherson-3526.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gTf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":119756,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/16\/fun-with-a-goofy-immature-ring-billed-gull\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":0},"title":"Fun With A Goofy Immature Ring-billed Gull","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always ready for fun, and this goofy, immature Ring-billed Gull provided a bit of fun for me yesterday afternoon at one of my snowy local ponds.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Ring-billed Gull looking goofier, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-immature-snow-mia-mcpherson-2479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108406,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/01\/urban-ring-billed-gull-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":1},"title":"Urban Ring-billed Gull Adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I wrote that a mini-bike scared the birds at my local pond two days ago. This urban Ring-billed Gull didn't fly off. It stood its ground.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Ring-billed Gull, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ring-billed-gull-on-fishing-dock-mia-mcpherson-5230.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":122561,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/04\/ring-billed-gull-and-a-heart-shaped-snowflake\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":2},"title":"Ring-billed Gull And A Heart Shaped Snowflake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been six years since I took this photo of a Ring-billed Gull and a heart shaped snowflake in the middle of a winter snowstorm at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull and a heart shaped snowflake, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-heart-snowflake-mia-mcpherson-5666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-heart-snowflake-mia-mcpherson-5666.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-heart-snowflake-mia-mcpherson-5666.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ring-billed-gull-heart-snowflake-mia-mcpherson-5666.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55245,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/08\/portrait-of-a-winter-ring-billed-gull-with-snow-on-its-bill\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":3},"title":"Portrait Of A Winter Ring-billed Gull With Snow On Its Bill","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not sure how this Ring-bill Gull got the snow on its bill but when I looked through my viewfinder I liked all of fine details I had in the snow, the bill and the white plumage of the gull and I felt I had to take photos of it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-billed Gull with snow on its bill, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-snow-bill-mia-mcpherson-9192.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-snow-bill-mia-mcpherson-9192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-snow-bill-mia-mcpherson-9192.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ring-billed-gull-snow-bill-mia-mcpherson-9192.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49939,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/17\/ring-billed-gulls-flying-in-a-december-snow-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":4},"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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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":120113,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/25\/ring-billed-gull-flying-in-heavy-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":64929,"position":5},"title":"Ring-billed Gull Flying In Heavy Fog","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time, in a marsh not so far away, I photographed a Ring-billed Gull flying in heavy fog. It was the densest fog I have ever photographed in.","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 flying in heavy fog, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-heavy-fog-flight-mia-mcpherson-5941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-heavy-fog-flight-mia-mcpherson-5941.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-heavy-fog-flight-mia-mcpherson-5941.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-billed-gull-heavy-fog-flight-mia-mcpherson-5941.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}