Herring Gulls

1
Herring Gulls

• Amber Dewey

2
Herring Gull

• Herring Gull, commonly known as the sea gull
• Observation date Tuesday August 28, 2007
• Time 1100-12 noon
• Location Ocean in Kill Devil Hills, North
  Carolina
• The habitat in which I observed the gulls was a
  beach on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. There
  were a lot of people, but also a lot of seagulls.
  It was fairly windy, but still nice. The water
  was a little rough but you could still swim. The
  beach was clean and there wasnt a lot of trash.
  Fish, crabs, and people food made up what I could
  see were their meals for the day.

3

• Here a gull is out over the ocean. Watching him
  I could only conclude that he was scanning the
  water for things such as fish. There are other
  birds out as well so he may be competing for the
  better fish.

4

• After getting back from his search of finding
• himself a fish, the gull rests. While standing
  on the sand, he watches other birds actions as
  well as people.

5

• In this picture the gull is still in about the
  same spot. When observing I noticed that many
  birds would stay in the same spot for a long time
  before deciding what to do next. Hoping not to
  be disturbed, he is still watching people and
  other birds.

6

• After taking a break from just
• standing on the shore, the sea gull starts to fly
  
• away as I make an attempt to get a good shot.
  The gull is
• following other birds that are in front of him.
  Many of the sea gulls traveled
• in more of a pack than just solo.

7

• As the Herring Gull flies away, I think I can
  conclude that I got a lot from him. In this
  picture he is once again deciding to fly over the
  ocean. Resuming his fish hunt, he might
  actually catch one this time.

8
Conclusion

• During my observations, I learned a lot more
  than I thought I would. To me, sea gulls used to
  be just annoying birds who chase after your food.
  After looking at the birds and taking pictures
  though, they seemed like a little more than what
  every one says they are. As I was watching them,
  I learned that they are always alert. Whether its
  to look for food or look out for people, they
  always know whats coming. They know what
  theyre doing. As I was watching, they sat and
  stared at the ocean for the longest time. Then
  when they would think that they saw something,
  they would fly off and dive in for fish. Other
  than searching for fish, they would peck in the
  sand and look for little things like crabs.
• As for the photography aspect of the project, I
  love taking pictures. Sometimes it was hard to
  get the sea gulls in action, though. They would
  fly overhead rather quickly and it was hard to
  get a good shot. You also have to have a lot of
  patience. If you get too close to take a picture
  they might fly away and your picture is ruined.
• All of my experiences with sea gulls have not
  always been good. For example, sea gulls have
  attacked me for food and they have even left
  something on my head. Even though these things
  have happened, I think I have a new respect for
  sea gulls. No, they arent my favorite bird, but
  they dont seem as bad anymore.