Kittiwake and Herring Gull - nature is sometimes cruel
Hi all.
This shot was taken at an RSPB sea-bird cliff sanctuary [Bempton Cliffs], in East Yorkshire, UK. Thousands of nesting Kittiwakes are constantly under attack from marauding Herring Gulls, looking for a meal. This young chick was plucked from its nest, by this hungry gull. The weather on-shore wind was very,very strong, which not only made it difficult for bird flight, but perversely allowed me to formulate and get a shot of this cruel event of nature.
It was taken last year, but I have re-worked it, using the knowledge and techniques picked up from BPN.net over the last few months.
Canon 1D mk3 + 300mm f2.8 IS + 2x tele
ISO 800
1/1250 sec @ f8 - Hand held.
I masked the two birds and applied a small Gauss.Blur to the background, after a small NR. I have sharpened the birds and the centre of the gull's eye. The fluffy/blurry "edging" you see around the young Kittiwake chick and to a lesser degree, around the Gull, is in fact the strong wind blowing the feathers so much, that the down is showing. This is evident on the original image, without any adjustments.
Great job catching the action!
BG works well and the "pose" of the chick and the intensity of the gull add to the drama.
Maybe just a tad oversharpened.
This is an awesome capture...good angle on them. good to see the head not merging with the wing. I am really liking the BG separation...well done, both in the field and in post processing.
I first saw this in North Uist, in Scotland, a Great Black-Back Gull stealing a Oystercatcher chick from a nest. Locally we just don't ever see this. I was so mesmerized, I forgot I had a camera.
Glad you remembered you had yours, repost is sharp, nice image :o (a bit sad though) all around...TFS
Its great to see a photo from my old stomping ground Richard - I used to live just down the road from Bempton, in Bridlington.
I have not seen Herring Gulls catching young kittewakes before - though I did once see Greatblackbacks catching immature kittewakes in flight on the boat over to Handa Is in Scotland one time.
So nice behaviour to capture. Super job getting the critical moment.
Only 'complaint' I have is about the 'cruelty'. That is something that can only be levelled at humans, not animals. Animals just do their stuff.
Guess it's a lot warmer where you are than good old, but cold Blighty!
I wondered if anyone would be offended by the post title, I suppose it should read "nature at work".
I felt uncomfortable taking the image [although there was little time for thought], but I realised it could be used as an educative tool, when explaining to people how nature works and why. My wife still does not like it though, despite my best efforts at persuading her otherwise.
Keep trying to persuade your wife Richard. There really is no cruelty involved. I once spent some time on Walney Island and had a real problem trying to stop the warden's wife from stopping a stoat carrying off all the nestlings from a skylark's nest in the warden's garden. The key is to look at it from the point of view of the predator's young - waiting to be fed. So instead of 'poor skylark/kittewake' it becomes poor herring gull chick/young stoat'. But the you know that :) So keep taking the predator - prey photos. Particularly when they are as good as this.
Another way to look at predators and prey is to consider the wide range of examples from a swallow catching a mosquito, a puffin with a sandeel in its bill, a lion bringing down a gnu, a leopard seal thrashing a penguin, a Right Whale filter feeding on copepods, and the list could go on of course. These are all examples of animals eating other animals and are ecologically equivalent, although are occurring at different trophic levels in the food web. Our reaction to each is an emotional one and based on our connection to the prey. Many would not give a second thought to a mosquito, copepod or fish being eaten, but would react to the sight of a warm-blooded, furry or feathered critter being eaten. It is difficult to fight these emotions but perhaps it can be made easier if these are all considered manifestations of the wonderful natural world we still have on our "doorsteps".
I really love the image (and kittiwakes are my favourite birds because I did my Ph.D on them!). I particularly like the "pose" of the chick in relation to the adult gull. The facial-contact of both animals is important to the emotional impact of the image- if the chick's face were hidden, it would have less impact. Well done.
Wonderful repost and image. And a wonderful meal for the gull. Heck, gulls gotta eat too :)
with love, artie
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Kittiwake and Herring Gull - nature is sometimes cruel
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