Silver Gulls rarely miss an opportunity for a free feed! I was looking through some images that I shot this morning while on a walk along the rocky shore at Tranmere. I thought I'd photographed a Silver Gull calling madly at my intrusion, as they often do. However, as I looked closer, I realised it was in pursuit of, and about to catch, an insect, as you may see on close inspection of the image at left. The insect in question, is a European Wasp, which it caught, as I saw in the subsequent shot. The Silver Gull joins a growing list of birds that take these introduced pests, if only rarely. The list includes Noisy Miner and Yellow Wattlebird.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Ever the Opportunist.
Silver Gulls rarely miss an opportunity for a free feed! I was looking through some images that I shot this morning while on a walk along the rocky shore at Tranmere. I thought I'd photographed a Silver Gull calling madly at my intrusion, as they often do. However, as I looked closer, I realised it was in pursuit of, and about to catch, an insect, as you may see on close inspection of the image at left. The insect in question, is a European Wasp, which it caught, as I saw in the subsequent shot. The Silver Gull joins a growing list of birds that take these introduced pests, if only rarely. The list includes Noisy Miner and Yellow Wattlebird.
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4 comments:
Amazing shot, Alan!
And it's great to think that SOMETHING will eat these pests!
Hi John,
I can't claim any special expertise over the shot, it was purely "accidental", and yes it is good to see that some birds will eat wasps--they can wreck a BBQ!
Accidental or no -- great shot! I enjoyed getting to know the Silver Gulls when I stayed in Sydney a couple of years ago, but I never saw anything this dramatic. Bravo.
Wow! Accident or not, that's a great shot.
I've been trying to track down a European wasp nest in the neighbourhood. They're living somewhere nearby and have started buzzing around my garden looking for food and stripping wood from the fence, Vandals!
Maybe I should just encourage the gulls ...
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