seagulls on harbor ice in january

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during a particularly cold spell the harbor had frozen and the gulls were just standing on the ice doing nothing other than trying to stay warm. when it gets really cold it is tough being a bird and sad to say, many don't survive. by feeding them some peanuts i really livened up the frigid scene.

it's a win-win situation. the gulls got some food and i got a chance to take some action shots

the brown-plumed gulls are immature. they have quick reaction time and are often the first to reach the food i throw.

but this was their first winter and they were accustomed to landing on land or in the water. watching them land on the slippery ice is very entertaining to me but getting enough food quickly becomes a matter of life and death. here one young gull slid past the nut i threw. i am not sure if it managed to grab it. if not it was immediately picked up by one with better timing

i cropped the previous image to feature the back four

It's really funny watching them slip and slide. on the other hand, i have plenty of peanuts and i try to place my throws so as many as possible get some.

but i guess the reality is that some go without

i can't do anything about that but i do make sure the food i offer is high quality, rich in fats. that is what they need to survive the cold.

please don't try feeding birds in the winter with empty-calorie items like white bread. they need fat.

that was a thoroughly enjoyable shoot. even though the whole show was over in about 15 minutes i was already cold. luckily i have a nice warm house very close-by.
i took all these shots in stavern harbor with my s22 on january 23,2023. for some reason i never got around to posting them until now