# Black Headed Gulls



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)




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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

great action shots Donald - did you count all your fingers after? :laugh:

love the clarity of no 2 and the motion in 3 :grin:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks ZCM. I was surprised on how gentle the birds were. I have also some 3D Stereo pairs but have not had time to process them yet.


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

Great shots, Donald!! The bird in #2 pic is banded.....would be kinda nice if the original revealed the number.....:grin: Check the # against the database and find out where it was banded and the approx age. 

I'm still waiting for the moon to appear.....if I can stay awake long enough. (I keep peeking out the window. Made a mistake and took my boots off....won't be the first time my slippers have been outside....:laugh


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Beautiful photos Donald, the clarity of detail in the feathering is stunning


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

Great shots Donald. I wonder if you had pulled your hand down a bit before you took the shot what you would have got. But I like these, very original idea.


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for your comments guys...

... A couple of tech points of interest:

lens: 28~300mm which is large and heavy:









The closest it will focus down to is 700mm. This means that holding the camera and trying to focus on the bread was quite difficult. Because of the speed of the birds swooping down to take a swipe at the free food, it was not possible to use the view finder. Just point the camera at the bread and observer them flying in for a bite and hit the button at right moment.

Shutter priority at 1000th - that could well have been much higher as there is observable movement in the wing feathers.

All in all, I was very pleased with the results.

This was an easier shot to take as it was with a much smaller & lighter camera (Nikon 5700)


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Well, equipment-ways I'm getting there - I just checked and I've got the identical tabletop-tripod as you - Now for the camera/lens :grin:

That's the 1st time I've ever seen an interesting pigeon-pic :laugh:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

OI! that aint a pidgeon...

He be a Dove! :grin:


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Ooops, I'd forgotten about doves - All I ever see here is pigeons of the mangy kind :grin:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Yeah, after living in London for many years, I know what you mean...
In fact, when I was about 12, I was given a pigeon chick that was about to be killed. The tree the nest was in had just been cut down and the workmen were about to kill the chick - I rescued it. The chick was only a few days old and was still bald!

Knowing absolutely nothing about pigeons, I fed it a mixture of crushed worms & milk. Despite my care, love and attention, it survived. I learnt some time later that pigeons don't eat worms! They are vegetarians. :grin: 

It grew and developed it's plumage. It became very tame and accepted me as its carer. One day, I decided it was time to teach it to fly. Holding it on my hand just like the dove above, I raised and lowered my arm so that it would flap it's wings. After a few days, it suddenly took off....I had strengthened its flight muscles. 

One thing I could not teach it & that was how to land properly. Every time it landed, it would appear to trip up and do a nose dive and then recover.

The story goes on. I called the him/her 'Bonny'. It was free to fly off- it was a wild bird that looked after itself by now but when I came home from school, I would go into the garden and call its name. Within a few seconds, it would fly down and land on my shoulder. Eventually Bonny got a mate and between them, raised a family.

...And that is why I called the dove "Bonny"...

That was over half a century ago! (Cripes - that sounds a heck of a long time ago!)


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

nice story Donald - I was fearful that it was going to end in tears! - oh ... and nice pic of the dove and you already know I'm jealous of your camera :sigh:


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

What a nice story Donald and a nice memory to have.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Beautiful photo's and a lovely story .. thought there might have been someone else feeding and you taking shots from behind .. but it seems you must have a way with "Birds" & I just hope your good lady doesn't get jealous .. :smile:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

:grin: She does at times....


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

Sooooooo jealous of your camera! The quality is simply astounding.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I must admit to being guilty of prejudice against pigeons. Then again, the ones in my neighbourhood (and nearly every major city) are literally 'flying rats', disease-ridden and considered vermin :sigh:

Despite that, there's no denying their skills at flying, especially in rough weather or at navigating their way home :grin:


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