It’s a Ring-billed Gull but from this angle it looks rather imposing, very raptor-like.
2019—Sticking the Landing
This California Gull looks like it knows it is going to “stick” the landing.
2019—Early Signs?
The gulls at Lake Natoma were so close I couldn’t always manage to fit them entirely in the frame, like this Ring-billed Gull flying toward me. The wingtips are out of the frame but the shot showcases the gull’s facial features like the pale iris with a red orbital ring around it, the broad black ring on the bill, and the red gape, the fleshy area at the base of the bill. My Sibley Guide to Birds indicates that the red orbital eye ring and the red gape are breeding indicators but that is not supposed to start until April , not early January. I guess these are early signs.
2019—Swoosh
A challenge to use my 500mm lens to showcase colored Christmas lights without showcasing the holiday itself resulted in this swoosh.
2019—Ring-billed Gull
A Ring-billed Gull soars near Lake Natoma.
2019—Preparing to Land
A Ring-billed Gull prepares to land at Nimbus Flat State Park on Friday. There were just a handful of gulls by the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma Friday afternoon. Quite a contrast to the hundreds there a couple of days before.
2019—Up Close
This Snow Goose flew over my head in Bosque del Apache. It was so close that it filled the frame and its wings spilled out of the frame.
2019—In Profile
When in profile, the Anna’s Hummingbird’s gorget doesn’t reflect the light the same way as if it were facing the camera so the gorgeous magenta all but disappears.
2019—Mid-air Squabble
For a photography assignment I’m working on, I visited the Nimbus Flat Recreation Area Wednesday afternoon. It is a California State Park in the Sacramento area, where there are lots of gulls, essential to my assignment. A group of young people were feeding the gulls down the beach from where I was and these Ring-billed Gulls had a brief, mid-air squabble over the bread that was being tossed their way.
2019—Fitting In
The Snow Geese at Bosque del Apache are expert at fitting into crowded spaces.
2019—Twenty Nineteen!!
Happy New Year! 2019 begins the ninth year of In Focus Daily. And, the new year would be incomplete here at In Focus Daily if I didn’t post a photograph of one of the Anna’s Hummingbirds that live in my backyard. It has become my tradition to start the new year off with a hummingbird photograph. I’m lucky to have year-round hummingbirds that live in my yard. This is Homer, or Homer Junior, or maybe it’s Homer III by now. In any event, it is a male Anna’s Hummingbird. After voicing his displeasure at my presence and buzzing me in a close fly-by, he settled on a branch and just peered at me. It was extremely blustery on New Year’s Eve and I was unable to capture any in focus flight shots but because I used my D500 with the 500mm lens, I was able to get fairly close to him (at 750mm) while he posed.
