Dance Party…by Brad Marks

Thanks to the return of the wet stuff, I am officially in a forced recovery day. I should probably give a hat-tip to the weather gods based on the muscle whining while getting out of bed this morning. Instead, I get to spend the day learning about the traditional muscle structures of those “grotesque” creatures that watch us upon their high perches and hopefully test out some new wing linkages – Halloween is nearly here people ha! Meanwhile, Brad is going to give us a look at another creature with wings that do not illicit the same level of nightmares… unless you are foolish enough to let them see your cheese curl while strolling along the beach. Time to grab your favorite dark chocolate treat (thanks for the recent restock Brad and Jan!), sit back and enjoy a few laughs.

Take it away Brad…

Jan and I had just returned from a long day of birding along the Atlantic Coast.  I think we carried our cameras for 9 miles that day.  No monopods.  No fancy shoulder straps.  No sherpas.  Don’t feel sorry for us–we were on vacation after all.  And we are retired.  But after chasing birds in swamps, marshes, and  forests (and avoiding the more than occasional alligator) we decided to have a little bit of fun.

Our resort on Hilton Head was right on the beach (aren’t they all).  Keep in mind that it’s mid-February on a beach; the high temperature that day was almost 60F (but only if you rounded up).  Normally, a beach and cold weather don’t go together.  Beach (more specifically sand) and camera gear don’t go together either, but there was nary a breeze this time of day and no fluffy blowing sand to worry about.  I remember Brian and his brother Ron getting caught in a sand storm on a beach in Texas and I didn’t want to repeat their adventure.  Plus, I didn’t want to have to extricate sand castles from my lenses and cameras.  My camera gear coverage from Wildlife Intrigued hasn’t quite started yet; still the newbie I guess.

The light breeze didn’t stop the gulls from entertaining us.

Gulls from Brad Marks

Hit the jump to see more antics.

Jan and I had only walked about 5 minutes up the beach (north or left whichever way you are keeping score at home) when a group of gulls started to fly around us.  As with most landlubbers, and those that live in the middle of the continent, any white flying bird near a body of water is a “seagull”.  We really didn’t care what they were called (Ring-billed Gulls for the record) because they were very entertaining.   The frenzy reminded me of middle schoolers gathering for a dance at school.  Everyone was being a bit goofy and not really quite sure what to do. 

The fun started with a gull flying by us only a few feet above the sand.  This one wasn’t very far from being a full adult.  It was probably already been through its second winter. 

Gulls from Brad Marks

The way to tell is the brown mottled gulls are first winter (“first years” or grade-school aged).  The ones with mostly adult coloring but speckled faces are second winter and are nearly adults (think of junior high or middle schoolers depending on where you live).  It’s during the third year when Ring-billed Gulls look, and mostly act like adults.  Even as adults, many retain a few brown speckles on the back and sides of their heads.  Breeding vs. non-breeding can usually be determined by the eye color for the most part.  The bright yellow eyes are usually sported by the breeding gulls, at least according to many websites.  Though, that’s not something you can bring up in polite gull conversation.  We spotted gulls in nearly every possible combination of plumage.  One poor gull had brown mottled coloring everywhere except on its shoulders and upper back where the adult plumage was growing in.  It was definitely rocking the gawky teenager vibe.

As the gulls assembled for the party, I think we were in the way.

Gulls from Brad Marks

Jan was taking as many photos as the camera would let her.  These were mostly first-years, or gulls that have seen their first winter, but don’t quite have the adult plumage yet.  While they are fully capable of flight, they probably aren’t as good at it yet as they should be.  Many are still growing into their wings, so to speak.  Remember your awkward 7th or 8th grade years?

Gulls from Brad Marks

I think we stumbled into a teenage gull dance party.

Gulls from Brad Marks

Mr. Miyagi would have been proud.  Though it should have been perched on a post to practice the crane stance. (kids go ask your parents about Mr. Miyagi and Karate Kid).

Jan and I differ on what this one was really doing.  Keeping with the dance party theme, Jan thinks the gull disc jockey was playing the DJ Khaled song “All I Do is Win” – Everybody hands go up!

Gulls from Brad Marks

I was thinking about the Olympics and thought it was the universal symbol for “I stuck the landing.”  There is a ½ point deduction for not having both feet in a straight line.  The gull behind it was so excited it offered a high five.

Gulls from Brad Marks

C’mon, don’t leave me hangin’.

Another was showing off his/her new flying and almost “less than perfect” landing ability. 

Gulls from Brad Marks

At first it looked like he could hang on, but then . . .

Gulls from Brad Marks

Face plant!  Sure hope no one was looking.

Gulls from Brad Marks

Hahaha, did you see what Jonathan Livingston just did? (apologies to Richard Bach)  But just like middle school, there were dozens of camera phones pointed in every direction so no one missed anything.

Then there’s the tough guy in the room.  Whatchu lookin’ at?

Gulls from Brad Marks

I have to admit, Jan and I were both laughing quite hard at this point, making it hard to steady the cameras even with vibration reduction (VR) on full.  This all happened in the span of a minute or two.  I’m sure anyone watching from their resort balcony was also grinning.  Being right in the middle of it all added hilarity.  As quickly as it started, the gulls dispersed.  They were probably going to an after-party at someone’s house.

Thank you for reading.  If you want to see more Ring-billed Gull photos, please visit here.

Credits

Thanks again to Jan and Allyson for proofreading and editing.  Thanks to Jan for many of the photos in this article. 

33 thoughts on “Dance Party…by Brad Marks”

  1. Seagulls are characters. Excellent dance moves captured.

    Making more than “a man with blonde hair and a tan” in your basement laboratory? Seems likes it’s not relieving your tension.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks Tim. They were almost colliding with us in flight; we had no choice but to take some fun photos. They will be embarrassed later in life. 😉

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  2. Just watching gulls could be a whole occupation by itself. Getting great photographs such as these is a special bonus.

    Your reference to Jonathan Livingston reminded me of my satisfaction with reading Mr. Bach’s book. Hoping for more seabird joy, I picked up a copy of Mr. Swift’s hefty tome “Gulliver’s Travels” only to discover it was not about gulls at all. Sigh.

    Thanks for the dance move images. If only I could remember dancing ……

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. An excellent interpretation of the gull antics! And I enjoyed your correlation of color markings and age, expressed as kids’ ages – I do that all the time! Little tyke birds, teenage birds, college age birds. Fun!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Glad to see I’m not the only one assigning human stages of development to the gulls. But they were so goofy no other comparison really fit well. Usually, I throw in a Harry Potter reference to First Years, but too many things were going on here. While not a technical photo outing, it was certainly rewarding to see and captures some of the antics from the gulls. Thanks for stopping by again Sam, appreciate the comments.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Everyday is a vacation during retirement 🙂 , I know what you mean, I don’t have the fancy camera straps for carrying the camera either, I have looked at them. Someday, maybe I will switch to mirrorless, they say those are very light compared to the ole DSLR’s. Gull photos are always the best. Some people think they are pest, but they are quite smart birds and just fun to photograph to me. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I’ve gone through the monopod stage, mostly for sports. Then there was carrying the whole thing by the lens foot, hands would give out after a while. But much more flexible than the monopod. Now we use the Black Rapid straps. More secure than just slinging over my shoulder and easier than using the foot. Still not perfect for wildlife, but the best we’ve found so far, at least for us. And for gulls and their antics, flexibility is key. Thanks for stopping by Sandra.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    2. Brad is working on me to try out the strap – I have one, I just need to get it out and try it…but then I would have to start working out with weights more to compensate for the lack of a workouts in the field.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

        1. We’ve traipsed around NV and CO with both of ours totalling 16+ lbs. between them. They have a heavier one, but I think the limit on ours is way past what ours weigh. You can try one if you want. They also have safety straps.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

          1. I have one which I think is rated for my rig weight that Ron got me as a gift one year…just need to spend time to learn how to put it on and try it out…will definitely want to use the safety mechanisms.

            Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Tanja. If we wait long enough gulls usually do something fun to photograph. These were already having fun when we stumbled into them. And probably kept at it after we left them on the beach at their party.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a comment