I’ve described terns, with their distinct calls, as aerial barflies with too much whiskey and smoke on the voice box. Each tern is raspy in its own way, and Caspian Terns have a sharp croak that pierces the air over my balcony. They’re huddled on a warehouse rooftop one minute, hundreds of them, blurred by…
Anthropomorphizing a Caspian-Peregrine Tussle
I’ve been grabbing Seattle’s ever-so-fleeting sun breaks to photograph a group of Caspian Terns who fish every evening on Puget Sound. I’ll post those shots soon. As I was packing up my tripod tonight, I saw the telltale movement and wing shape of a Peregrine overhead. She was riding the thermals up and out of…
The One I Couldn’t Help
It was one of those precious sunny days in the midst of Seattle downpours. A Flickr friend of mine told me about a tugboat race on Elliott Bay, so I thought I’d walk the Terminal 91 bike path to the water. The “path” is an industrial slog — a cement slough leading to Puget Sound,…
Les Mouettes Aimes Les Petits Pains
photos ©ingridtaylar – email me for permissions mouette = from Middle French mouette = from Old French moette = diminutive of Old French maoe (Anglo-Norman mave, mauve) = from Old English mǣw (“seagull”) = from Proto-Germanic *maihwaz, *maiwaz (“seagull”) Someone challenged these gulls with leftovers from the patisserie. If a gull can swallow a starfish,…
The Maw
Two of a huge group of gulls, collecting on a duck pond during a fierce, Seattle wind storm.
Gull of the Revolution
Shot at the Seattle waterfront, framed by steam from Seattle Steam. Converted to B&W/sepia in Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.
The Art of Gull Feet
Fast Food [Gull] Nation
Part of what makes gulls both amusing and exasperating to humans is their cleverness and opportunism when it comes to food. Across the gull universe, the diet is omnivorous. They’ll eat crustaceans, fish, insects and other marine organisms. They will also prey on the nests of other bird species for food. A number of researchers…
Forster’s in Flight
When you first encounter terns, their mid-air, hairpin turns seem unpredictable and difficult to capture — especially since these birds are quite small when you’re thinking about filling the frame.
Melee
No notes on this one . . . just gulls doing what gulls do . . . a skirmish over a bit of food. Okay, one note . . .
[see the full-size photo …]
