Saturday, 17 January 2009

Camera Critters - Ducks, Geese and Gulls



Camera Critters


We have a very small lake, just a few blocks from where I live.

I spend many a happy hour at it, being entertained by the wildlife that lives there.

In New Zealand, most of the main cities are on the coast. So seagulls were just a normal part of the scenery.

Last thing I expected, when I moved to a inland city in the United States, was to see, gulls everywhere. Especially since I was now living in the High Sierra Desert.

However, here in Reno, gulls are plentiful...


This one is playing 'King Of The Rock' and he defended it from any would be claimant, very vigorously....


Captured this one as it snatched a piece of bread, that had just been thrown...



Waiting , hopefully, to see if I had any food for them...


These two let me get quite close..


Very curious about what I was doing. I like how the camera captured the drops of water still clinging to his feathers...




Duck fight !!!

These two little fellas, were having rather a battle royal. The one being pinned down kept getting too close to the top drake's mate.

The interloper just did not get the 'Hand's off, Mate, she's mine' message and kept swimming in. I must have sat and watched them have at it, for a good 30 minutes or more.

For more animal antics,head over to CAMERA CRITTERS and play. :-)

22 comments:

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

I love watching seagulls. I know that they are hated by many...kinda like pigeons. But they just fascinate me. Maybe because we don't live on the coast :-)

And that is really strange about the gulls that far inland. I wonder what brought them there?! The allure of trash and tourists?

ratmammy said...

i love the photos!

Mimi said...

Great shots!

Unknown said...

You must have spent a while to get so many cool shots like gull eating the bread and the mallard fight. That intrigued me because we live on the banks of a large river in Western Massachusetts and there are plenty of mallards and geese around. I've taken many photos but I've never seen the mallards fight.

This is a great post.

NoBS said...

Such calming entertainment!

Grammy said...

I love all your photos. I enjoy watching the bird too.
Have a wonderful week.

Bruce said...

Looks like a nice place to go visit & take photos. Thanks for visiting my blog too:)

Lilli & Nevada said...

Seagulls are so pretty but so messy. And well the ducks are always a beautiful site to see

DrowseyMonkey-Photos said...

Oh wow! These are all fantastic! I love watching ducks ... never seen a fight though! lol

That close up is excellent.

Dianne said...

great shots of the birds!! and wonderful commentary

Barbara said...

Looks like your lake has an abundance of wild life to enjoy. What a calming day you must of had. Great shots. Smiles B

Carolina said...

Lovely photos. Loved the camouflage duck one. Did not see it at first beside her very colourful hubby.

Mamapippa ... said...

Here in Belgium we can see gulls at the sea or at some of the lakes. Beautiful birds !

Reader Wil said...

Great set of waterbirds! Thanks for sharing! I can hear the sea gulls!

Tootie said...

Watching the Seagulls is one of my favorite things to do too. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yeah we can't just get enough taking pictures on them. Have lots here as well and it's good to catch nice view. Happy Monday and thanks for the visit.

Sandra said...

Karen -- until we moved here, I had never lived close to water and really didn't "get" it's appeal (well, of course, I did the ocean, but I mean bodies of water that don't have crashing waves!).

But, now I just love watching the geese and ducks, with an occasional herron or loon thrown in. Just fascinating. But, they have never let me get close enough to take great pictures like these. Well done!

Anonymous said...

I really like watching sea gulls too. Their social structure is interesting to watch in action and what they choose to eat usually brings a smile to my face.

Misty DawnS said...

These are really great photos! I'm amazed that you captured a fight!

storyteller said...

I thoroughly enjoyed your photos and commentary here. I live near the ocean and see pelicans, seagulls, and other birds too. I shared a pelican collage for Camera Critters a while back at Small Reflections. Thanks for visiting my CC at Happily Retired Gal this past weekend and leaving the link back here.
Hugs and blessings,

Manz said...

Are the seagulls smaller in the US than NZ? For some reason I thought that they were, but they don't look it in the photos you posted!

Both the seagull + duck images are wonderful.
We see families of ducks here (in the counrty/valley of NSW, Australia - 30 mins from the coast), and the families are so adorable!! Only thing that makes me sad is that the next time you see the family, they are one or more ducklings short of the original clan. :(
People need to realize that the ducks try and cross the road, and slow down for them... ducks can't change their behaviour, but we can change ours!!

Jen said...

Gorgeous photos!