{"id":77747,"date":"2021-01-14T06:02:31","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T13:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=77747"},"modified":"2025-06-24T08:16:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T13:16:03","slug":"california-gull-on-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/14\/california-gull-on-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"California Gull On Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CaliforniaCalifornia Gull standing on thin ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I went down to my local pond yesterday afternoon where the first bird I photographed was an adult California Gull standing on thin ice. It has been warmer than normal and the ice on the pond has started to break up. I saw several species of birds actually fall through the ice and then struggle to get back on top of it while I took images of them.<\/p>\n

The ice on the pond looks dark because there were heavy, dark clouds hanging over the pond. Fortunately for me the gull was lit nicely because the sun was peeking through the clouds in the western sky. In clearer conditions the ice has a silvery sheen to it instead of a charcoal smoke color.<\/p>\n

\"CaliforniaCalifornia Gull looking for a handout \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/8000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

People do feed the gulls, geese, ducks and other birds at my local pond and I believe this California Gull had walked over the thin ice looking for a handout. There was another photographer on foot near the pond and the gull may have thought that he had food.<\/p>\n

It was nice to have this California Gull walk in as close as it did so I could enjoy photographing it.<\/p>\n

\"CaliforniaCalifornia Gull close up in profile \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/8000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Towards the end of my time with this California Gull I had to turn my camera vertically so I could fit the whole gull into the frame.<\/p>\n

I know my blog stats will drop today because I am writing about and sharing more gull images. When I shared photos recently of first winter Herring Gulls at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> views of my site dropped significantly compared to the views of other recent posts.<\/p>\n

Eleven years ago I made a pledge to myself to always be authentic when writing about what I photograph on my site. To do that I share photos of all the bird species I see not just the ones I think might garner more views on my blog.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

To view more of my California Gull photos plus facts and information about this species please click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went down to my local pond yesterday afternoon where the first bird I photographed was an adult California Gull standing on thin ice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149316,"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":[27,520,709,26],"tags":[4004,10868,10869,4333,4142,3539,521,10867,4064,4230,4246,1984,5844,4369,5541,373],"class_list":["post-77747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-california-gulls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-authentic","tag-authenticity","tag-california-gull","tag-close-up","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-handout","tag-ice","tag-larus-californicus","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-pond","tag-profile","tag-thin-ice","tag-willow-pond","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kdZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118823,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/08\/california-gull-in-winter-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":77747,"position":0},"title":"California Gull In Winter Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was at my local pond three days ago, I was happy to photograph this California Gull in winter plumage that had just landed on the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult California Gull in winter plumage, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/california-gull-winter-plumage-mia-mpherson-8918.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/california-gull-winter-plumage-mia-mpherson-8918.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/california-gull-winter-plumage-mia-mpherson-8918.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/california-gull-winter-plumage-mia-mpherson-8918.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100954,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/21\/urban-california-gull-in-soft-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":77747,"position":1},"title":"Urban California Gull In Soft Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I spent a few minutes focused on photographing an urban California Gull in soft morning light at a pond close to home.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult California Gull in soft morning light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/california-gull-adult-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2145.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/california-gull-adult-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2145.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/california-gull-adult-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2145.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/california-gull-adult-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2145.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108946,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/22\/cloudy-and-gray-winter-solstice\/","url_meta":{"origin":77747,"position":2},"title":"Cloudy And Gray Winter Solstice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My Winter Solstice was cloudy and gray. 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