Don't Overlook the Common Species

[Arthur Morris]

Black-headed Gull is a dirt bird in much of Europe, often overlooked even by serious bird photographers. From where I sit, it is a gorgeous bird. The same situation exists here with the equally beautiful Laughing Gull. This image was created in Texel Holland, with the Canon 600mm F/4L IS II, the 2X III TC, and the EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/400 sec. at f/14.

Sunny mornings were rare during our visit. To see more images of this species, see "Elegant, Sexy Cousin" on the blog here (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2013/04/29/elegant-sexy-cousin/).

Don't be shy; all comments are welcome.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful shot, Artie. Nice calling pose perfect HA. Exposure is spot on. Good shooting angle.
In agreement with you, there is no dirt bird IMO.
Every bird is beautiful on their own right no matter how common it might be.

[jack williamson]

Awesome techs as usual. The calling pose and ha and bg are wonderful. Your images always have a certain smoothness yet are sharp as a tack. Well done.

[dankearl]

I just got back from the East Coast with my first look at their look a likes, the Laughing Gull.
I thought they were terrific, and you have an excellent portrait of one.
Nice calling pose, I might take off a tad behind the bird.

[Bill Dix]

No such thing as a trash bird IMHO. Lovely calling pose, background. Nice lighting and exposure.

[vishaljadhav]

Nice Bird, we here get the gulls in mostly non breeding colors however the colors make them more special
this one is marked by the plain BG and a nice calling pose,

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Really enjoy viewing this, love the excellent detail, head angle, open beak and low angle. First time for me, never seen this type of Gull before. Enjoy seeing how different they are to our Gulls.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I always prefer a beautiful image of a common "overlooked" bird than a so-so one of a more sought-after one. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of the legs and tail, but the grasses and blue BG are terrific. Good calling pose too with a nice flowing curve along the head, neck, and back.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Artie,

Besides the calling pose, what makes this image for me is the grass. Nothing common about this image!

Miguel

[Robert Holguin]

Wonderful shot.
Excellent shooting angle, love the calling pose, very nice blue background, and exposed very well.
A very beautiful gull in my book.
Well done.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the low angle, pose, open beak, sharpness, exposure, details and composition. I just finished shooting some common birds a couple of days ago myself. Excellent image Arthur!

[mohammad reza shahab]

Wonderful shot.
Excellent low angle.very nice calling pose and exposure.

[Frank Schauf]

Great shot, Texel is worth a visit.:w3

[Satish Ranadive]

Arthur Sir:
what a lovely red beak this gorgeous bird has ? and you have captured it beautifully.
Every thing is just perfect in the frame as usual.
Love the pose with open beak,it's color, smooth BG, very nice FG and low shooting angle.

Regards,
Satish.

[adrian dancy]

Excellent work here. Good pose, light and detail in the whites.

I'm glad you like the bird because so do I and in fact I think the gull is very handsome in breeding plumage and it's not bad in winter either.

I'm not sure what a 'serious birdphotographer' is.