Laughing Gulls
[winter look]

This trip, I was trying off and on to catch those comical laughing gulls in flight. If you saw the photos I had from last spring, you know that in the early part of the year, they don their mating feathers and have those adorable black hoods. Not so at this time of year. However, the male laughing gulls are still very obvious as they have golden eyes and legs. And I would swear that this is the same guy who was bossing the rest of them around in April. An alpha bird and packleader no doubt. If it's not the same fellow, it's certainly his clone.

Once again, he was so busy puffing and strutting and barking orders that he missed most of the treats with which we bribed the rest of the pack to get them to pose.

[photos are clickable for larger views]