This is a couple of the quite rare Slender-billed Gulls (Larus genei/ långnäbbad mås). We saw them both (male and female) for a long time as they were fishing and courting just 5 meters from our resting point. The male was fishing really close to use while the female stayed at a further distance calling at him all the time:
- Don´t take any risks you fool. Get a grip of yourself and think a little about me and our eggs!
She was so upset that she could not find the time to eat herself. There is not much difference from us, don´t you think?
Geographic info:
This is from the Camargue area in southern France, every European birdwatchers paradise. We took a bicycle tour along the small strip that separates the huge pond "etange du Vaccares" and the Mediterranean sea.
Technical information:
Canon 300/f4 lens on a Canon 400D body, in rawformat and used Adobe Lightroom for some adjustments before the edit in Photoshop CS3.
Sharp and well exposed but with the birds and the heads being slightly away from you the faces are not well lit; this is ESP true of the near bird.
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The image is great and the background info was especially nice thanks for sharing. I have never seen this sp before are these Gulls a slight shade or pink? The glassy blue water is very nice here. I love the image but as Artie mentioned the the angle of the birds and the heads as less than optimum.
Slender-billed Gulls
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