{"id":92541,"date":"2021-07-25T06:40:17","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T12:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=92541"},"modified":"2021-08-22T06:05:28","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T12:05:28","slug":"franklins-gull-feasting-on-brine-flies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/25\/franklins-gull-feasting-on-brine-flies\/","title":{"rendered":"Franklin’s Gull Feasting On Brine Flies Plus News About The Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BrineBrine flies and a Franklin’s Gull on the shore of the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While Franklin’s Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin. There are at least three known species of brine flies in the Great Salt Lake and researchers suspect that there are more. Brine fly larvae feed on algae and detritus then pupate in a chrysalis before becoming adults. Franklin’s, Ring-billed and California Gulls all consume the brine flies along with many other bird species.<\/p>\n

Last July I was able to photograph an adult Franklin’s Gull as it walked through clouds of brine flies on the shore of the hypersaline Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a>. I enjoyed every minute I had with this bird and loved watching it chase down the flies through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Franklin’s Gull walking in a cloud of Brine flies \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Franklin’s Gull walked forward a cloud of brine flies rose in front of it. In this photo the brine flies can be easily seen in front of the gull’s white and dark feathers.<\/p>\n

\"Franklin'sFranklin’s Gull, Brine flies and the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As the gull moved around the shoreline of the lake it stirred up the flies. All of the dark gray and black specks in this photo are brine flies.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Franklin’s Gull chasing flies on the shore of the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have seen and photographed Franklin’s Gulls passively snatching brine flies<\/span><\/a> from the air while standing and resting. In these photos the Franklin’s Gull was chasing them down.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Franklin’s Gull scooping up Brine flies at the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Franklin’s Gull was running on the shoreline it used its bill to scoop the flies from the air. The clouds of flies can be so thick that they mess with the auto focus on cameras and it can be tricky to get the gulls sharply in focus behind the swarm of brine flies. Practice helps and having patience does too.<\/p>\n

After I took these Franklin’s Gull photos I got side tracked by thousands and thousands of Red-necked and Wilson’s Phalaropes in flight<\/span><\/a>. They also feed on the brine flies to fuel up for their long migration.<\/p>\n

\"HatchHatch year Franklin’s Gull on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on in the morning I also photographed a young Franklin’s Gull that was learning how to catch the brine flies on its own. I was delighted to photograph the hatch year gull.<\/p>\n

On a sadder note, I don’t know if<\/em> there is water in the lake this year where I photographed the adult Franklin’s Gull last summer. The Great Salt Lake has been drying up for years now and recently it dropped to its lowest level ever recorded<\/span><\/a>. A dying Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a> will have significant impacts on the birds that depend on it and on humans too. More exposed dry lake bed means that there will be arsenic and heavy metals in the air when the wind blows, and the wind blows hard here in northern Utah quite often.<\/p>\n

Our state leaders have completely failed to protect the Great Salt Lake. It is as plain and as simple as that. The state government tells Utahns to pay attention to fire danger signs but have recklessly ignored scientists about the dangers of climate change and the impact on the Great Salt Lake and the citizens all along the Wasatch Front<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While Franklin’s Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92524,"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":[511,27,1022,1336,26],"tags":[4004,5991,929,988,5596,9534,4286,4232,4231,7555,6618,4136,4329,4005,3539,521,5381,5314,5993,4067,4071,5178,4330,4470,11378,4891,4188,2315,4236,3996,12040,4193],"class_list":["post-92541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-franklins-gulls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-brine-flies","tag-chasing","tag-conservation","tag-drying","tag-dying","tag-eating","tag-ephydra-cinerea","tag-ephydra-hians","tag-feasting","tag-flies","tag-foraging","tag-franklins-gull","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-hatch-year","tag-hypersaline","tag-hypersaline-lake","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lake","tag-leucophaeus-pipixcan","tag-rocks","tag-scooping","tag-shore","tag-shoreline","tag-summer-3","tag-walking","tag-water","tag-water-levels","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/franklins-gull-adult-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-o4B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7827,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/11\/the-brine-fly-buffet-begins-on-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":92541,"position":0},"title":"The Brine Fly Buffet begins on the Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday while near the marina on Antelope Island State Park I spotted my first of the year Brine Flies warming up on some of the rocks in the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of the year Brine Flies, Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-0280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-0280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3020,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/08\/31\/california-gulls-feeding-on-the-brine-flies-of-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":92541,"position":2},"title":"California Gulls feeding on the Brine Flies of the Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago I had the opportunity to take images of California Gulls feeding on brine flies along shoreline of the Great Salt Lake next to the causeway to Antelope Island","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"One California Gull actively feeding, the other is passively feeding on brine flies. Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-5489-munching-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-5489-munching-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-5489-munching-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/california-gull-5489-munching-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53086,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/14\/great-salt-lake-brine-flies-important-food-source-for-california-gulls\/","url_meta":{"origin":92541,"position":3},"title":"Great Salt Lake Brine Flies – Important Food Source For California Gulls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Brine flies that live in the Great Salt Lake are an important food source for California Gulls and watching the gulls feed on the flies is fascinating as they use several techniques to catch them.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult California Gull scooping up brine flies with its bill, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-3828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-3828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-3828.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-3828.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6248,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/03\/california-gull-the-chase-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":92541,"position":4},"title":"California Gull – The Chase is On","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While my mother was visiting Utah she was able to see how California Gulls chase and feed on Brine Flies, it is fascinating feeding behavior. 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