Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

“Seagull” Is A Perfectly Fine Generic Word

Eight species of gulls were seen on Central Park’s Reservoir this week, including a Slaty-backed, the first known sighting of this Asian species in the city. This post, however, is about the usual suspects.
Scavenging and kleptoparasitic, Ring-billed Gulls and, to a lesser extent, Herring Gulls and Greater Black-backed Gulls, dominate the local scene.
(Is this a bagel? Well, somebody has to eat the damn things.)
Here’s another attempt to get at some bready something.
But here we have a Herring Gull (presumably the American Herring Gull) doing something different.
The ripples radiating out are because the bird is using its big webbed feet down in the mud. Feeling and/or dislodging. Yes, this bird is clamming. Stay tuned to our next episode on Thursday. Same gull time, same gull channel.

mthew

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