Five days ago there were a lot of birds at the beach, perhaps getting ready for Tropical Storm Hermine… I had some fun trying to identify the different stages of life of the laughing gulls…
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
9.2.16 ~ non-breeding adult? or first summer? laughing gull
We had a few gusts of wind which ruffled some feathers…
9.2.16 ~ laughing gull with feathers puffed up from a gust of wind
I wondered if the cormorants would be staying out on their island during the storm…
9.2.16 ~ cormorants on their exclusive off shore island
The baby great black-backed gull wondered if we would be handing out a french fry. Tim had unintentionally dropped one recently, renewing hopes for some of the younger birds…
9.2.16 ~ juvenile great black-backed gull
My friend knows better — he’s content to visit with us. 🙂
9.2.16 ~ my herring gull friend with the mangled foot
We also saw a great egret — they don’t often come this close, preferring their island in the middle of one of the salt ponds.
9.2.16 ~ great egret
The swan’s pond has mostly dried up due to the drought…
9.2.16 ~ swan
Sharing the estuary by the sea wall, we were amazed to see eight snowy egrets feeding with the great egret, the swan and a flock of Canada geese!
9.2.16 ~ swan and snowy egrets
9.2.16 ~ great egret, snowy egrets and Canada goose
The calm before the storm… Hermine gave us mostly gale force winds and drizzle. Several branches and many leaves and twigs came off the trees, but no trees were uprooted in our vicinity. That was more than enough excitement for us!
8.27.16 ~ probably a juvenile great black-backed gull
So… Yesterday there were three cormorants sitting on the breakwater, closer to land than I’ve ever seen them before. But, confound it, still too far away for a decent picture. And of course, they had no interest in spreading their wings out to dry. So tantalizingly close by, yet still so far away…
8.27.16 ~ cormorants on the end of the breakwater at high tide
However, in my efforts to get as close as I could to the cormorants, I discovered a large group of gulls wading in the rocky pools created by high tide.
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, wading
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, rock climbing
8.27.16 ~ herring gull, waiting for the next wave to cool off his feet
A few days ago my gull friend with the mangled foot came back! He was sitting on the white post in front of us as we sat down on a bench to eat our supper. 🙂 He took off several times, soaring up high and circling around the beach house and landing each time again on the post in front of us. I think he was trying to demonstrate that he was just fine, thank you. He seems so healthy and energetic now — he must have recovered from whatever malady was troubling him earlier this summer.
8.27.16 ~ look who is back!!!
Yesterday I spotted him hanging out with the other gulls on the rocks. He was getting a drink of water. Gulls are able to drink salt water or fresh water.
8.27.16
8.27.16 ~ posing for me – doesn’t he look sprightly?
My family thinks I should come up with a name for him but for some reason I can’t think of one. I’m also not even sure if “he” is male or female.
8.27.16 ~ more drinking
8.27.16 ~ so refreshing!
8.27.16
After his thirst was quenched he decided to walk over to investigate a noisy group of gulls nearby.
8.27.16
8.27.16 ~ walking with a sense of purpose
8.27.16 ~ pausing to listen and contemplate
Meanwhile, another herring gull walked into view. He’s pretty handsome, too.
8.27.16 ~ another herring gull
It seemed like everyone wanted their pictures taken!
8.27.16 ~ another juvenile great black-backed gull
8.27.16 ~ juvenile great black-backed gull
I’m still amazed that the juvenile great black-baked gulls are larger than the adult herring gulls. In fact, they are the largest species of gull in the world.
We didn’t see any laughing gulls this day, who are smaller than the herring gulls, but had seen several of them a few days beforehand.
8.27.16 ~ Mystic Whaler heading out for a dinner cruise…
Summer is winding down, but it’s still hazy, hot and humid. We are close to setting a record for the hottest August in Connecticut weather history. Sigh… Looking forward to October!
You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes, that’s all, and it is as simple as a ray of sunshine, as normal as the blue of the sky. ~ Bernard Moitessier (The Long Way)
Now that our son and daughter-in-law have returned home to Georgia our house is so very quiet… Yesterday for lunch we went to the beach. The weather was cool and damp and there were very few people there. I wasn’t the only one wearing a sweatshirt. At first we didn’t see our friendly gull.
7.10.16 ~ there was a crow raising quite a ruckus, all by himself, leaving us wondering what all the fuss was about
7.10.16 ~ a mother Canada goose swam by with two children
7.10.16 ~ gull monitoring Long Island Sound from the rooftop
Disappointed that we hadn’t seen our friend, we started to walk back to our car and then we saw him, standing on the sidewalk, almost as if he was waiting for us. He was quiet – no vocalizations this day.
So I got down on the grass and talked to him for a while. He sat down and allowed me to get closer than ever before. This time I had my camera!
After getting the picture above I pressed my luck and got the portrait at the top of this post. What a thrill! Somehow he knows we can be trusted. But again, he seems old and tired. I wonder if we will ever see him standing on one of the white posts this summer. Maybe those days are over. We’ll see…
Our son and daughter-in-law are visiting us from Georgia. Last night we went down to the beach for supper and a gull came over near to our picnic table. He was resting quietly on the grass for a while, and then he started voicing all kinds of mournful cries. We spoke to him a little bit and then, he stood up. That’s when I noticed his mangled foot and recognized him to be the gull I wrote about last September in this post: a long fine life.
So, he made it through the winter after all!
I had been a little sad I hadn’t seen him until now, fearing he hadn’t survived. But then one of Tim’s ham radio contacts mentioned a gull fitting his description was visiting a dock about a mile up the river. People were feeding him, which they shouldn’t do, but perhaps that’s why he hadn’t been down to the beach.
The gull then walked over to my side of the picnic table and sat down again. I spoke to him for a little while, unable to conceal my excitement over seeing him again. 🙂 I didn’t have my camera but he sat still while I got out my cell phone and snapped this picture.
In the past he would visit us by standing on whichever white post was closest to us. This is the first time he was sitting on the grass. And he vocalized for much longer than he has in the past. I like to think he was telling us about his winter and his plans for the summer.
Finally, he flew off and started hovering over a man with a hot dog in his hand. Still up to his old tricks… It was so good to see him.
Of course no evening at the beach would be complete without a visit from our old friend with the mangled leg and foot. The gull may just be greeting us in a friendly manner, but his call is so mournful and long we often wonder what tale of woe he is trying to share. The burdened gull looks in a lot better shape now than he did at the beginning of the summer.
9.7.15 ~ Eastern Point Beach
I’ve learned not to feel too sorry for this gull. He doesn’t seem to feel sorry for himself. His large strong wings work perfectly well and we see him flying and fishing out over the rocks and the water. And every summer he’s an expert at swooping down and snatching hot dogs from unsuspecting diners at the picnic tables. I once saw him swallow a foot-long hot dog, whole, in one big gulp! Human food is not good for gulls and most people, including us, obey the rules not to feed them. At least not on purpose. 🙂
9.7.15 ~ Eastern Point Beach
We learned that we are not this old gull’s only friends. While a group of three off-duty lifeguards were walking along, chatting and gathering up their equipment for the last time this summer, he flew over and landed on a picnic table right in front of them and squawked at them. They all said hello and spoke to him and then finally one said, as the gull flew off, “Good-bye, Claws! Please don’t die!”
So Tim & I are not the only ones who wonder at the end of each summer if this wounded gull will make it through the coming winter. Since I first met this gull in 2011, he must be at least four years old, probably more. Gulls live ten to fifteen years so it is possible he may be around for many summers to come.
9.7.15 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed. ~ Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull)
misty sunlit noon swamp mallows basking in pink a storm on the way ~ Barbara Rodgers (By the Sea)
8.12.14 ~ Eastern Point Beach
I first met this battered old gull three years ago in August of 2011, when we were expecting Hurricane Irene. Today he sat on this post right next to us, closer than he’s ever come before, and we heard his long and mournful cry again. He looks a lot worse for wear, his life has no doubt been difficult with that badly mangled foot. Now it looks like he has a barnacle or a growth on his beak. I think he was letting us know about the approaching rain storm. No hurricane this time, though.
young and mature laughing gulls 8.18.13 ~ Eastern Point Beach
Gulls – a word of inherent paradox. Almost anyone can recognize a gull – or “seagull” – as such, but to identify certain gulls to species can vex the most experienced observers. ~ Steve N. G. Howell & Jon Dunn (Gulls of the Americas)
8.18.13 ~ Eastern Point Beach
“regular” herring gulls with their new and smaller laughing gull neighbors
I love these petite laughing gulls and their little black legs!
Until April of 2012, when we were visiting our son and his family in Georgia, I was unaware of the fact that there were about 50 different species of gulls, about 22 of them found in North America. At Cumberland Island National Seashore I was very surprised to see two black-headed gulls perched on a dock.
Then in the summer of 2012 we noticed a couple of HUGE juvenile gulls at our local Eastern Point Beach here in Connecticut. After some sleuthing we determined that they must be the largest of all the gulls, great black-backed gulls. Awe-inspiring! I took pictures of them next to what we started calling “regular” gulls to show the difference in size.
This summer we were hoping to spot some adult great black-backed gulls, which we finally did. But before that, I noticed we had more new visitors, these little gulls with black legs. Time to purchase a reference guide! I’m not 100% positive, but I think they are laughing gulls.
Now what species are my beloved “regular” gulls? Again, not absolutely sure, but I think they are ring-billed gulls. The problem I seem to be facing is that gulls molt several times as they mature and look a little different during each of their four cycles, sometimes dramatically different.
an adult great black-backed gull with a “regular” ring-billed gull
great black-backed gull contemplates taking off
8.21.13 ~ Eastern Point Beach
8.21.13 ~ Eastern Point Beach
It was considered unlucky to kill a seagull, as they are the souls of dead sailors. So if a seagull were to land on the bow of the ship, you didn’t want your captain to see you chase it off as a comrade has come to visit. ~ K. E. Heaton (Superstitions of the Sea)
So many of my ancestors were lost at sea – I have to wonder sometimes…
perhaps the great black-backed gull is headed for the approaching ship
In all the excitement yesterday I forgot I had a prescription to pick up at the drug store. So… we decided to go get it this morning, even though it was already raining, but with no wind to speak of. Workers were boarding up the large expanse of windows at CVS. I wonder if they will stay open for 24 hours through the storm.
8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
Since we were already out and about we decided to have second breakfast (as Hobbits refer to it) at our favorite restaurant. And then we decided to go to the food co-op for Tim’s sliced almonds. And then we decided we may as well check out the beach before returning home.
On the way we spotted some die-hard golfers, out for one last round! That’s the Thames River behind them, shrouded in mist.
8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
I’m guessing these cormorants were getting a feel for the wind direction. They didn’t fly, they were just standing there with their wings open…
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
This little house is on a rock island in the Thames River and is the object of much curiosity and speculation. We have never seen people there before, but today these two kayaked out there! When I got home and uploaded my pictures to my laptop, I noticed that there seems to be a wind turbine just behind the bushes! I called Tim over and he had never noticed one there before either. It’s strange that I didn’t even see it while taking the picture.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
We drove right up to this seagull. He was unimpressed with us and wasn’t about to leave his post.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
This gull had a long and mournful cry…
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
As I moved closer to him I could see something wrong with his foot, perhaps it was injured and healed in an awkward position. He seemed to know I meant him no harm and allowed me to come very close to him and talk to him.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
Later he was waiting patiently, hoping to get a crumb from a woman enjoying one last hot dog before the storm arrives.
8.27.11 ~ Eastern Point
On the way home we stopped at Baker Cove and found this tranquil scene…
Baker Cove ~ 8.27.11 ~ Groton, Connecticut
There have been a few evacuations near us, but so far we’re good to stay. The storm track is a little more to the west, so we’re out of the “red” zone. Now we’re more concerned about Larisa in New York than about us here. There is a high new moon tide coming along with a 6′ storm surge. (We’re 20′ high. If I see water, though, I’m out of here!) Tim has his webcam aimed out the window – wonder what we’ll see?
