Friday, April 02, 2010

Morning on the Lake: Bonaparte's Gulls


Arriving at the lake before sunup this morning the first thing I noticed was a raft of Bonaparte’s Gulls. These birds winter along the coast, migrating far up into Canada to nest. Nearly every spring I encounter these tiny gulls on the lake but they never tarry long.

These gulls are quite trusting and will usually allow me to approach quite closely with the boat. Using the slowest speed setting on the electric motor I was able to swim along with the flock maneuvering the boat for advantageous lighting angles.



The dead calm morning was great for reflection shots 



Backlighting accents the stream of spray following the little gull’s take-off

Today was an exceptionally beautiful day for early April with afternoon temps reaching the mid 70’s. It was also a day I will always remember for the extremely rare encounter with a very unusual animal, but that will have to wait until my next post. Stay tuned……..

7 comments:

Meggie said...

Beautiful gull shots, Coy! I will certainly tune in tomorrow for shots of the mystery animal.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

You do have a way of keeping everyone in suspense.I really like the reflections of these gulls.
Blessings,Ruth

Linda said...

I'm in awe of your gull photos. Thanks for sharing.

Carletta said...

Beautiful shots!
The reflections so sharp!

Elaine said...

All of these shots are gorgeous, but the last one is absolutely supurb!

Debra said...

Oh Wow, these shots are spectacular! I am blown away by those reflections in the water and the soft ripples in the water make for a gorgeous background! Nice work!

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Nice frozen action and lighting.