Those photos of flying gulls with crabs are one in a million. Brilliant shots, James! On the bay where I live, Larus Occidentalis ( Western gulls) and Quercus Agrifolia ( California Live Oak) abound! One of the funniest bird sights I remember was a young western gull with all his brown-spot feathers chasing his sleek gray and white mother around the harbor gangplanks screeching loudly, standing accusingly in front of her, beak wide open for food - and he was as big as she was! So comical! Reminded me of some of the 30-year-olds who still live with their parents today, expecting free food, laundry, and everything else. When is the fledge-by date?
Thank you, Sharron! Western Gulls are special birds, I saw my fair share when visiting a friend in San Diego. Hopefully that gull has learned to hunt and feed itself! Nature always provides a dose of perspective.
I read this today in an old natural history of southern New Jersey called "Down Jersey" by Cornelius Weygandt. I thought you might enjoy.
"All along the seacoast and bayside, though, gulls are still rising and falling: buoyant as balloons, dropping clams to be broken on the hard beach and eaten to the last succulent morsel. All along the waterfronts gulls white and grey and sooty are resting on the water offshore, or beating slowly on errands best known to themselves, screaming, skirling, thinly crying, with a suggestion in their voices of wind at the world's end in the dawn of time. No other bird and no beast at all can so transport you across space and the
centuries.
The gulls plane about, they balloon up, they catapult down on some luckless fish. Oncoming storms may drive the gulls to fields well inland, where they whiten the greenness like little piles of lime, but all of their time is spent along the beaches, rising and falling in an "airy morrice,' or floating on the water within stone's throw of the shore.
Their freedom of movement and their wailing and bickering bring to you, in the security of the land, a desolating sense of the vastness and wildness of the sea, of open water and loosed gales, and of the little power of men against the ontrampling and overmastering drive of ground swell and great waves.
It is from September to April these herring gulls haunt the Jersey coasts, the time the country is green and grey and brown."
Thank you, Thomas. I love that. "Buoyant as balloons." They do have such a relaxed determination when they descend to foodstuff they've just dropped to break. A kind of contentedness at floating down to get the meal. I've never spent time in New Jersey, your writing and perspective makes me see I should--and what kind of birder never takes a trip to Cape May?
Cape May is a good birding destination. I am going to try to see Red Knots this season, they come to feed on Horseshoe Crab eggs. There's also a hawk watch in the northern part of the state, and Bald Eagles, but I think you get all that in New England.
That Herring Gull image with the mouth open is awesome. I can hear the sound! Also that image of the juvenile Bald Eagle and the Great Black-backed Gull is a great comparison showing that gull's size. Thanks for the mention as well about my first Cooper's of 2025 - much appreciated.
Thank you Neil. That particular gull was very happy to pose and harangue me as I held the shutter down. And thank you, it is cool to see the two birds side by side. Always happy to mention your writing, people have much to gain from your poetry and photos!
beautiful action shots! I agree - if they weren't everywhere, people would truly see gulls as majestic. I certainly did when I first laid eyes on a (not even adult) Great Black-backed Gull
Beautiful (pictures and words). I also love gulls, especially our ‘common’ gulls (which are anything but common).
And I’m often taken by the understated beauty of female ducks - wigeon, for example. Such pretty variations in their plumage, yet many people don’t even pause on them as they scan the water for something ‘interesting’.
Thank you, Gem. That’s exactly how I feel about female ducks! The most beautiful Wood Duck I ever saw was a distant female one November. I got closer to a hen and her chicks a few months later. The drake wrongly steals the spotlight. The white around the hen’s eye! The speculum!
The photos of the Herring Gulls with their meals (lots of crab, but no herring!) made me smile increasingly wider, but that shot of the moon in the blue sky took my breath away!
So many photos here are real stunners, but my favorite has to be the Herring Gull with clam. I think I fell in love with gulls the first time I saw one (don't even remember which species now) repeatedly dropping a clam from 15 feet or so. Brains to match the beauty
Thank you so much. I could watch gulls drop clams all day. There’ve been times they’ve almost dropped them on my truck. Much as I don’t want a dent, it’d be a dent with a story. “That gull…”
Happy to mention your essay. I try to find a good representative quote for each; yours wasn’t easy as there were so many good ones.
I do appreciate the act of writing about what you find beautiful and in doing so lending your eyes to your readers to see the beauty in it too. I appreciate gulls so much more since finding your substack James.
Beautiful photo essay, James. The lead image is so remarkable, I had to do a double take. All of the images are beautiful. My eye was also especially drawn to the Bonaparte's gull lifting out of the water, it's such an unusual posture that you've shown us.
Thank you, Heidi. That Bonaparte’s image is part of a series I took in California in spring, my favorites of Bonaparte’s. There’s one I’ve shared here before where water droplets are coming off the feet from the same series.
Gonydeal spots are beauty with a purpose, which adds to the beauty. They are also a fun small talk topic: “You know how gulls have that red spot on their bill? Herring, Glaucous, Great Black-backed, others but not all—that’s a gonydeal spot. Gonydeal because it’s on the gonus. Babies peck at it, parents vomit up food.”
Not always a hit with non-gull-appreciators, but gull conversation is good conversation.
I can see a very well-played scene, probably at a dinner table or something similar. The clink of forks. No talking. And then one person, who obvious appreciates gulls, brings up the gondyeal.
We have only a few gulls (so I thought) who frequent the small lake I live on. I had better take another look with binoculars! I had no idea there were so many types.
Gulls love lakes. Definitely spend some time with a local field guide, grab your optics and enter the wonderful world of gulls! People are so quick to malign gulls, but spend fifteen minutes looking and learning and it becomes clear how amazing they are--and how many species
A beautiful ode to gulls! Your pictures are all so lovely, and I especially got a kick out of your several shots of Herring Gulls with very large meals. Thank you for posting this, James, and for the generous mention!
Thank you, Kelly! Herring Gulls are willing photographic subjects—dropping food, screaming at me, so on. Accessible exemplars of gull magnificence. Happy to mention your piece; it was refreshing to read someone write that way about gulls, and you translate avians into artwork. Also fun to go back and resume the commiseration: Herring? Ring-billed? Must be Herring—but no, Ring-billed. Are you still settled on that bird being a Herring?
I am 97.5% sure it is a Herring, mostly because I think I recall it being a beast when it was close to me on the pier, and also because the one in my shot with the whimbrel looks to be the same bird or similar enough to this individual.
Living in Virginia Beach, VA, a couple of miles from the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, we have a fabulous view of many birds, particularly the gulls. The CBBT is over 17 miles long, crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, with the northern end on the southern tip of the Virginia 'Eastern Shore' (a peninsula that runs up into MD). I have not been across the CBBT for a few years now but have vivid memories from many trips across of the often-amazing presence of a gull on top of nearly every light pole along the bridge.
The Chesapeake Bay is the entrance for many Navy and cargo ships destined for Norfolk (neighboring/adjoining city where I was born), and Norfolk is the home of the historically largest Naval Base in the world. The entire eastern VA region is stunning with the waterways, history, and variety of birds.
As an aspiring 71 yr. old birder since my retirement in 2018, my knowledge of birds in great detail is zero compared to you, Mr. Freitas. My respect for your knowledge, writing, and photographic skills are why your Substack is one of my favorite places to learn.
I have added a link below to the official CBBT website below, as I understand that south-eastern VA, the bridge-tunnel and the Virginia Eastern Shore are world renowned amongst birders. Interesting fact: The emblem for the CBBT is......a white seagull icon surrounded by a blue background. :)
Kiptopeke on the other side of the bridge is an absolutely glorious state park. And the hawkwatch there in September is top notch. I plan to go back again for a week in September if you want to come birding with me and my kids!
Thank you so much, Gary. I imagine you get enviable gulls and the Osprey must be spectacular! I am glad you find my Substack helpful as you embark on your birding journey. There is nothing I know about birds that isn't attainable to learn--combination of time with the birds themselves and time with books about birds--but I appreciate your kind words. I love that CBBT logo! Thank you so much for sharing the site. I'll definitely add that to my list of future birding destinations. Thank you for reading and for your comment.
Those photos of flying gulls with crabs are one in a million. Brilliant shots, James! On the bay where I live, Larus Occidentalis ( Western gulls) and Quercus Agrifolia ( California Live Oak) abound! One of the funniest bird sights I remember was a young western gull with all his brown-spot feathers chasing his sleek gray and white mother around the harbor gangplanks screeching loudly, standing accusingly in front of her, beak wide open for food - and he was as big as she was! So comical! Reminded me of some of the 30-year-olds who still live with their parents today, expecting free food, laundry, and everything else. When is the fledge-by date?
Thank you, Sharron! Western Gulls are special birds, I saw my fair share when visiting a friend in San Diego. Hopefully that gull has learned to hunt and feed itself! Nature always provides a dose of perspective.
That top photo is a winner!
Thank you Amanda!
I read this today in an old natural history of southern New Jersey called "Down Jersey" by Cornelius Weygandt. I thought you might enjoy.
"All along the seacoast and bayside, though, gulls are still rising and falling: buoyant as balloons, dropping clams to be broken on the hard beach and eaten to the last succulent morsel. All along the waterfronts gulls white and grey and sooty are resting on the water offshore, or beating slowly on errands best known to themselves, screaming, skirling, thinly crying, with a suggestion in their voices of wind at the world's end in the dawn of time. No other bird and no beast at all can so transport you across space and the
centuries.
The gulls plane about, they balloon up, they catapult down on some luckless fish. Oncoming storms may drive the gulls to fields well inland, where they whiten the greenness like little piles of lime, but all of their time is spent along the beaches, rising and falling in an "airy morrice,' or floating on the water within stone's throw of the shore.
Their freedom of movement and their wailing and bickering bring to you, in the security of the land, a desolating sense of the vastness and wildness of the sea, of open water and loosed gales, and of the little power of men against the ontrampling and overmastering drive of ground swell and great waves.
It is from September to April these herring gulls haunt the Jersey coasts, the time the country is green and grey and brown."
Thank you, Thomas. I love that. "Buoyant as balloons." They do have such a relaxed determination when they descend to foodstuff they've just dropped to break. A kind of contentedness at floating down to get the meal. I've never spent time in New Jersey, your writing and perspective makes me see I should--and what kind of birder never takes a trip to Cape May?
Cape May is a good birding destination. I am going to try to see Red Knots this season, they come to feed on Horseshoe Crab eggs. There's also a hawk watch in the northern part of the state, and Bald Eagles, but I think you get all that in New England.
That Herring Gull image with the mouth open is awesome. I can hear the sound! Also that image of the juvenile Bald Eagle and the Great Black-backed Gull is a great comparison showing that gull's size. Thanks for the mention as well about my first Cooper's of 2025 - much appreciated.
Thank you Neil. That particular gull was very happy to pose and harangue me as I held the shutter down. And thank you, it is cool to see the two birds side by side. Always happy to mention your writing, people have much to gain from your poetry and photos!
beautiful action shots! I agree - if they weren't everywhere, people would truly see gulls as majestic. I certainly did when I first laid eyes on a (not even adult) Great Black-backed Gull
Thank you for reading, and I absolutely agree! Those gulls are huge.
Beautiful (pictures and words). I also love gulls, especially our ‘common’ gulls (which are anything but common).
And I’m often taken by the understated beauty of female ducks - wigeon, for example. Such pretty variations in their plumage, yet many people don’t even pause on them as they scan the water for something ‘interesting’.
Thank you, Gem. That’s exactly how I feel about female ducks! The most beautiful Wood Duck I ever saw was a distant female one November. I got closer to a hen and her chicks a few months later. The drake wrongly steals the spotlight. The white around the hen’s eye! The speculum!
The photos of the Herring Gulls with their meals (lots of crab, but no herring!) made me smile increasingly wider, but that shot of the moon in the blue sky took my breath away!
Thank you so much Alice! The gulls have personality but the moon has a calm, still, beauty
So many photos here are real stunners, but my favorite has to be the Herring Gull with clam. I think I fell in love with gulls the first time I saw one (don't even remember which species now) repeatedly dropping a clam from 15 feet or so. Brains to match the beauty
Thanks so much for the mention, James!
Thank you so much. I could watch gulls drop clams all day. There’ve been times they’ve almost dropped them on my truck. Much as I don’t want a dent, it’d be a dent with a story. “That gull…”
Happy to mention your essay. I try to find a good representative quote for each; yours wasn’t easy as there were so many good ones.
I do appreciate the act of writing about what you find beautiful and in doing so lending your eyes to your readers to see the beauty in it too. I appreciate gulls so much more since finding your substack James.
Thank you Sarah. If nothing else, if my writing serves as a means of spreading the gull gospel then it’s worth my time.
Outstanding photographs James. Especially the Herring Gull one!
Thank you Shital! Herring Gulls are accessible and cooperative photographic subjects.
Beautiful photo essay, James. The lead image is so remarkable, I had to do a double take. All of the images are beautiful. My eye was also especially drawn to the Bonaparte's gull lifting out of the water, it's such an unusual posture that you've shown us.
Thank you, Heidi. That Bonaparte’s image is part of a series I took in California in spring, my favorites of Bonaparte’s. There’s one I’ve shared here before where water droplets are coming off the feet from the same series.
The part about the gonydeal spot, hatchlings, and regurgitation is the kind of intricate wildness that leaves me speechless. What an evolution.
Gonydeal spots are beauty with a purpose, which adds to the beauty. They are also a fun small talk topic: “You know how gulls have that red spot on their bill? Herring, Glaucous, Great Black-backed, others but not all—that’s a gonydeal spot. Gonydeal because it’s on the gonus. Babies peck at it, parents vomit up food.”
Not always a hit with non-gull-appreciators, but gull conversation is good conversation.
I can see a very well-played scene, probably at a dinner table or something similar. The clink of forks. No talking. And then one person, who obvious appreciates gulls, brings up the gondyeal.
We have only a few gulls (so I thought) who frequent the small lake I live on. I had better take another look with binoculars! I had no idea there were so many types.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful photography.
Gulls love lakes. Definitely spend some time with a local field guide, grab your optics and enter the wonderful world of gulls! People are so quick to malign gulls, but spend fifteen minutes looking and learning and it becomes clear how amazing they are--and how many species
A beautiful ode to gulls! Your pictures are all so lovely, and I especially got a kick out of your several shots of Herring Gulls with very large meals. Thank you for posting this, James, and for the generous mention!
Thank you, Kelly! Herring Gulls are willing photographic subjects—dropping food, screaming at me, so on. Accessible exemplars of gull magnificence. Happy to mention your piece; it was refreshing to read someone write that way about gulls, and you translate avians into artwork. Also fun to go back and resume the commiseration: Herring? Ring-billed? Must be Herring—but no, Ring-billed. Are you still settled on that bird being a Herring?
I am 97.5% sure it is a Herring, mostly because I think I recall it being a beast when it was close to me on the pier, and also because the one in my shot with the whimbrel looks to be the same bird or similar enough to this individual.
Herring Gull is synonymous with beast.
Excellent essay and photos! Thanks for sharing the update.
Thank you, Lewis. Glad you enjoyed!
Living in Virginia Beach, VA, a couple of miles from the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, we have a fabulous view of many birds, particularly the gulls. The CBBT is over 17 miles long, crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, with the northern end on the southern tip of the Virginia 'Eastern Shore' (a peninsula that runs up into MD). I have not been across the CBBT for a few years now but have vivid memories from many trips across of the often-amazing presence of a gull on top of nearly every light pole along the bridge.
The Chesapeake Bay is the entrance for many Navy and cargo ships destined for Norfolk (neighboring/adjoining city where I was born), and Norfolk is the home of the historically largest Naval Base in the world. The entire eastern VA region is stunning with the waterways, history, and variety of birds.
As an aspiring 71 yr. old birder since my retirement in 2018, my knowledge of birds in great detail is zero compared to you, Mr. Freitas. My respect for your knowledge, writing, and photographic skills are why your Substack is one of my favorite places to learn.
I have added a link below to the official CBBT website below, as I understand that south-eastern VA, the bridge-tunnel and the Virginia Eastern Shore are world renowned amongst birders. Interesting fact: The emblem for the CBBT is......a white seagull icon surrounded by a blue background. :)
https://www.cbbt.com/
Kiptopeke on the other side of the bridge is an absolutely glorious state park. And the hawkwatch there in September is top notch. I plan to go back again for a week in September if you want to come birding with me and my kids!
That is a very interesting offer. I'm going to follow you here so we can keep in touch. I'm also very intrigued by hawks.
Adding Kiptopeke to my list for sure!
Thank you so much, Gary. I imagine you get enviable gulls and the Osprey must be spectacular! I am glad you find my Substack helpful as you embark on your birding journey. There is nothing I know about birds that isn't attainable to learn--combination of time with the birds themselves and time with books about birds--but I appreciate your kind words. I love that CBBT logo! Thank you so much for sharing the site. I'll definitely add that to my list of future birding destinations. Thank you for reading and for your comment.