Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Gulls

***NOTE:  Dan came through the surgery fine - pacemaker installed and seems to be working properly.  He was kept overnight, but should be home today.  Thanks to all for the prayers, well-wishes and kind thoughts!  Bloggers are the most caring and wonderful group of people - we feel blessed!***

I think this is a herring gull, but I am not sure.  I am going crazy trying to identify these shore birds!  If someone knows what they really are, I would greatly appreciate the identification!


Again, I think this is some kind of gull, but what!?  I just know I enjoyed watching them play on the beach!
Oops, you caught me slurping!
Also, if anyone has a good place to look up these birds, please pass it along.

 


Thanks to Anni at The Bird D'Pot and Stewart at Wild Bird Wednesday for hosting!

23 comments:

Melbourne Australia Photos said...

Lovely photos, Linda.
Certainly glad to hear about the success of Dan's surgery. I wish him the speediest of recoveries and many more healthy years fo life thereafter!

eileeninmd said...

Now, that I am looking at your gulls shots, I am longing to visit the beach. Lovely series, Linda!

Les fous du cap said...

Beautiful pictures ;-)
Céline & Philippe

mick said...

Great photos of all the gulls. They are fun to watch - but not to ID !

Anni said...

Ohhhhhhhh, let's just hope the good outcome of Dan's surgery continues. I know quite a few people who have had a pacemaker, and other than replacing batteries, they are great. Continued good luck to him.

As for your gull photos, I love the one where you managed to capture the water from its beak. And to ID birds, sometimes they're a mystery to me too. I have several bird books [one only for USA ---the rest are books on Texas birds]. And when I can't find a particular bird, adults are easy most times, but the young and juvenile are more difficult...there is a site online that you upload the photo of a bird you can't identify and the forum members will help you out. Wish I could remember the site's url as I type, but can't right now. Do a google search for bird ID. Oh, and a lot of sites will help you identify by color. I've read somewhere that gulls are usually 'brown' when just a yearling as they tend to get their adult colors after their first year.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

happy to hear it went so well for Dan.

love the gull photos. great views. (:

Anonymous said...

Great "Beachy" pictures! So glad that Dan did well with the surgery.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Sooo happy to hear all went well with Dan's surgery Linda, what a relief for you both. Excellent series on the different types of gulls, I recognize them all except the brown ones.Could they be a type of Tern, or are all gulls terns?

Pix said...

Glad all went well for Dan! I love gulls, they are such characters.

Stewart M said...

This is a first time vista for me - so I hope all your medical issues play out well.

I'm no expert here - but I think the first picture is of a ring billed gull.

Glad to have you aboard for WBW.

Stewart M -Australia

HansHB said...

Great post for WBW!
Lovely photos!

TexWisGirl said...

SO glad all went well with the procedure! i hope he can home today!

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

So glad things went well for Dan. I hope they continue.
Love the shore birds. I'm not good at identifying them.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

My daughter the birder says that gulls are one of the difficult groups to ID. I don't even bother trying. I am just sure not to refer to them as "seagulls". Good for Dan. Home today and back to his ol' self soon.

Brian King said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brian King said...

Glad to hear the surgery was successful! That's great!

I believe you have some Ring-billed Gulls, but the others I'm not sure about. Try this site for bird ID:

"http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189"

EG CameraGirl said...

I'm glad to hear you husband's surgery went well. YAY!

Shore birds are a challenge to identify, Linda. I'm working through gulls and sandpipers myself so I know!

Unknown said...

Great news and great shots!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Adam Jones said...

Nice shots. I too think the first gull is a Ring billed Gull.

Red said...

Great that the man is home and feeling fine. He will feel like a new person.
Gulls are some of those birds where we close our eyes and just think of them as one group. Excellent shots.

kayerj said...

I'm glad everything is okay. Nice set of pictures.

Larry said...

Great gull shots Linda! I think these are all Ring-billed Gulls except the brown one which looks like a first year Herring Gull to me. Gulls are notoriously difficult to ID because there are two year, three year and four year gulls, referring to the length of time it takes for them to reach their mature plumage. Therefore, we always find gulls in transition from one plumage to another.

Most of the major field guides have good coverage of gulls if you dare to delve into that realm. Peterson Reference Guides also has a "Gulls of the Americas" guide if you really want to torture yourself ;-)

A Colorful World said...

Great gulls! Uh, that sounds like an expletive of sorts! :-) Hope all is going well in your house, and Dan is recovering nicely. My hubby had a heart attack and three stents put in back in 1999. Not exactly the same, but I do know what a trial it all is. Will keep you two in my prayers!