Worried

The terrible disaster that is occurring in the gulf is sickening to me. I spent a few days down on the gulf last March collecting red seaweed (I do DNA research on invasive species) and also photographing birds along the coast. I am very worried about the future of these coastal birds given the scale of this disaster. Here are a few of the gulls I saw while collecting my seaweed specimens.

Some Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) and Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla)

A Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Seagulls in Arkansas?

A friend of mine, Carl, recently returned with his family from a vacation on the gulf coast. Like me, he too enjoys nature and we often talk about birds. He was telling me about the gulls on the coast and how unflinching these birds were when it came to human contact. His story reminded me of this flock of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) I photographed last winter on nearby Lake DeGray. There were at least a dozen of these gulls taking turns diving into the lake. I had remembered seeing a gull or two during the winter months before, but never this many at one time. It was quite a show. Apparently ring-billed gulls spend most of their time in and around bodies of freshwater as well as landfills, golf courses, farm fields, and parking lots. They guys are quite good at scavenging. According to the records ringed-billed gulls are not that uncommon in Arkansas, especially during the winter. Nevertheless, I always associate gulls with the ocean and it will always be a strange sight for me when I see a flock of these guys visiting our local lake.