Saturday 5 February 2011

World Bird Wednesday (1) - Pacific Gull.

I have a bit of a fondness for gulls - but down here in Australia only really have 3 species you can expect to see.
So here are some images of the Pacific Gull - its huge, with a wing-span of almost 170 cm and the males weighing it at 1.6kg.
I think the first bird is a 2rd year bird.













This one is a third year bird - with a Toad Fish.





























I would draw you attention to the size of that beak! - it in the order of 60mm long!
And finally here is an adult in its full glory.














You can see more World Birds Wednesday shots here.

You can see more of my shots (and far more words) at my other blog (or you can click the link to Paying Ready Attention on the RHS of the screen)

There is a post about gulls in general on my blog here.

17 comments:

  1. Great shots of your Australian gulls. That's interesting that you only have three species. I live in NC, U.S. and we have many different gulls but I'm not great at identifying them.

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  2. Great photos of the gull. We only have Silver Gulls here in SE Qld Some of the others occasionally get blown up here as vagrants.

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  3. Not my favourite bird, I have to say :-)
    Those mean little eyes...
    But you love them, which is what counts.

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  4. He certainly looks a big one.
    And that beak!
    Great shots.

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  5. Great set of photos!

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  6. A beautiful Gull and lovely images. I struggle to identify our UK gulls species even the common ones with so many different plumages. Ist winter, 2nd winter etc etc

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  7. That is a powerful looking bird! Well done capturing the various stages of the impressive Pacific Gull. It's nice to be with you half way across the world! ;-)WBW

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  8. I like gulls also and those are good photos. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  9. lovely shots of the gull -- very nice to see the variations in the plumage for the different age groups. the bill on this species is really impressive too!

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  10. These are great! I like gulls too but I'm really bad with id'ing them. Luckily my husband is good cause I don't usually have the patience for figuring them out :) Love the shots of him with the fish,!

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  11. Gulls are not my favourite bird, but I respect them. They live in an unforgiving place between the land, the sky and the sea. And they do it marvelously!

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  12. Nice captures I like Pacific Gulls. I've seen a lot on the Eyre Peninsular.

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  13. You beat me to it.... I have added some local Gull Images for WBW.

    They certainly make for great photographic opportunities, you have a nice series of shots. I will catch up with your Blog site

    Dave

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  14. Fantastic gull images. The bill on the second year bird looks like more than a bill, but some kind of specialized tool.

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