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Take a look at the fascinating photo below. Process the undoubtedly complex emotions it inspires, then try to imagine the story behind it. Then click through to Pharyngula to learn the tentacled truth. PZ Myers is enjoying this just a little too much…

For at least 12 years now there has been a lake in Broome. It was hidden for several years and we could easily access it from just through our back fence, but as new roads were built it became more visible. It is not there all year, as it fills up from the rain water [...]

When I’m on a boat dedicated to birding, like I was on Sunday, I love spending time at the back photographing the birds that come into the chum scrum. Birds in flight are always fun to photograph and birds in flight that stay near your lens are even better. The backgrounds offered by water and [...]

I’ve been struggling for a post topic this month. Don’t get me wrong there is lots going on everywhere I look and there have been all sorts of ideas jumping in and out of my head as I’ve gone about my business but none of them have grabbed me enough to turn them into a [...]

Back when I was trying to figure out what I should do during my time at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival I was advised by Doug Gochfeld to check out “the Gull spectacle on the beach at Daytona Beach Shores.” Intrigued, I looked into it, and learned that enormous amounts of gulls feed [...]

Most birders, including the American Ornithologists’ Union, accept Kumlien’s Gull as a subspecies of Iceland Gull. Others say that Kumlien’s Gull is a subspecies of Thayer’s Gull.  Still others say that Thayer’s Gull, Iceland Gull, and Kumlien’s Gull are all a single species and we all are kidding ourselves by pretending otherwise. What the heck is going [...]

In Broome we only have one species of Gull-the Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae. It is a well-known bird that is commonly called “Seagull” and they are far from shy. They are found not only on the beaches of Broome, but in the shopping area and at the rubbish tip. They are in larger numbers during [...]

As a form of entertainment, it may lack the sophistication of America’s Got Talent, but watching a gull trying to swallow a starfish is certainly compelling. Glaucous-winged Gulls in Vancouver’s Stanley Park can often be seen with a perplexed yet determined look on their faces and a starfish half in, half out (or two-fifths in and [...]

I thought after my recent look at the more angelic end of the avian spectrum it would be illustrative to descend into the circles of birding hell in order to regard, through the safety of the Internet, one of the baser demons in the pantheon of the birding gods. Our guide on this journey is [...]

August through October is the typhoon season in Japan. A storm by the name of Roke was wreaking havoc as we landed into Tokyo’s Narita Airport last week. Forecasts had me fearing that the whole trip would be a wash out, but luckily the typhoon blew through Tokyo quickly and the next morning dawned clear [...]

One of the benefits of working for a union that represents workers all over the state of New Jersey is that on occasion I find myself near a great birding location after having finished work for the day.  For example, a couple of weeks ago I found myself with several hours of daylight left and [...]

I was worried that I may not have a post for this weekend until I noted Corey’s submission about the Gray-hooded Gull at Coney Island, New York. The ABA is still considering its response to the gull and its provenance, but more to the point, Jochen has called its pedigree into question by asserting that [...]

A couple of weeks ago I posted a series of pictures of what I called “Ratty Summer Gulls” – gulls that are just plain ugly, especially when compared to, say, breeding plumage birds.  All of the pictures were taken on a single trip to Jones Beach in June.  The coolest bird of the bunch, a [...]

July, as all northern hemisphere birders appreciate, is the month when the egg timer flips and everything starts pouring back out again in a steady stream south. Ponds and estuaries fill up with passage waders and the birding gets good after the summer lull as we rise slowly and surely towards the fever pitch of [...]

Gulls can be gorgeous.  Gulls can also be not very gorgeous at all.  In summer, when feathers are worn and younger birds are molting into their next plumage, gulls can be downright ugly.  They can also, because of their odd appearance, be difficult to identify.  On a recent family trip to Jones Beach, on New [...]

The Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibunus, is similar in many ways to Bonaparte’s Gull, Larus philadelphia of North America. They are both small “black-headed” gulls which take two years to reach maturity and retain their black, immature tail bar through their first winter and summer. The white wedge on the leading edge of the outer wing is another [...]

Iceland Gulls do not breed in Iceland.  They do winter there, as well as in northern parts of Europe, in eastern and central Canada, and across the northeastern and central United States, but like many other birds named after places they essentially have a misnomer.  But if one detaches “Ice” from “land” and puts a [...]

A big bruiser of a bird, the Glaucous Gull is nothing if not bulky.  It sometimes looks like a gull built from a child’s blocks, with its square-headed appearance and barrel-chested brawn.  But when Larus hyperboreus is viewed from the back of a boat as it fights for position in a chum line it transcends [...]

There is a lot of whining associated with colours and Europe’s birds. [Pause] Let me re-phrase that: The terms “colours” and “birds” are scarcely ever associated with each other in Europe – except in the context of mutual exclusion. This it is not entirely fair and far from … [pause again] …  well, not very [...]

It should come as no surprise to readers of 10,000 Birds that I do not love gulls.  Though we have an occasional larophile post on this blog they are rarely written by me.  Indeed, when I manage to successfully identify a moderately difficult gull it is considered a reason to rejoice.  But when there are [...]