F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.
Common Murre
Where do polar bears vote?
The North Poll.
Interesting Fact: In the Atlantic, some populations include “bridled” or “ringed” individuals, which have a white eye-ring and a white line extending backward from the eyes. Bridled birds are more common farther north. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Murre/overview )
F/5.6, 1/320, ISO 400.
Ring-billed Gull
What do you call a man with seagull on his head?
Cliff
Interesting Fact: Migrating Ring-billed Gulls apparently use a built-in compass to navigate. When tested at only two days of age, chicks showed a preference for magnetic bearings that would take them in the appropriate direction for their fall migration. The gulls also rely on landmarks and high-altitude winds to provide directional cues. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Killdeer
What did the apple tree say to the farmer?
STOP PICKING ON ME!
Interesting Fact: The male and female of a mated pair pick out a nesting site through a ritual known as a scrape ceremony. The male lowers his breast to the ground and scrapes a shallow depression with his feet. The female then approaches, head lowered, and takes his place. The male then stands with body tilted slightly forward, tail raised and spread, calling rapidly. Mating often follows. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 400.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
What is a bunny’s favorite music?
Hip-hop.
Interesting Fact: The Semipalmated Sandpiper gets its common name from the short webs between its toes (“palmated” means webbed). The Western Sandpiper is the only other small sandpiper with similarly webbed toes. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Semipalmated_Sandpiper/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 200.
Killdeer
What’s the difference between a guitar and a fish?
You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish.
Interesting Fact: Gravel rooftops attract Killdeer for nesting, but can be dangerous places to raise a brood. Chicks may be unable to leave a roof because of high parapets and screened drain openings. Adults eventually lure chicks off the roof, which can be dangerous – although one set of chicks survived a leap from a seven-story building. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 400.
Heermann’s Gull
How do you communicate with a fish?
Drop him a line!
Interesting Fact: The Heermann’s Gull is the only North American gull that breeds south of the United States and comes north to spend the nonbreeding season. After breeding is over in July, the gull quickly comes north all the way to southern Canada. It heads back southward by December, and most breeders are at the breeding islands by March. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Heermanns_Gull/lifehistory )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 250.
Black-bellied Plover ( Juvenile )
I went to a seafood disco last week… and pulled a mussel.
Interesting Fact: Wary and quick to give alarm calls, the Black-bellied Plover functions worldwide as a sentinel for mixed groups of shorebirds. These qualities allowed it to resist market hunters, and it remained common when populations of other species of similar size were devastated. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Plover/overview )
F/7.1, 1/800, ISO 200.
Whimbrel
What Do You Call a Beach that Keeps Losing Sand?
A Shore Loser.
Interesting Fact: In many regions, the primary winter food of the Whimbrel is crab. The curve of the Whimbrel’s bill nicely matches the shape of fiddler crab burrows. The bird reaches into the crab’s burrow, extracts the crab, washes it if it is muddy, and sometimes breaks off the claws and legs before swallowing it. Indigestible parts are excreted in fecal pellets. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whimbrel/lifehistory )
F/ 5.6, 1/500, ISO 100.
Caspian Tern
Why did the cookie go to the hospital?
Because he felt crummy.
Interesting Fact: The Caspian Tern aggressively defends its breeding colony. It will pursue, attack, and chase potential predatory birds, and can cause bloody wounds on the heads of people who invade the colony. The entire colony will take flight, however, when a Bald Eagle flies overhead, exposing the chicks to predation from gulls. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Caspian_Tern/overview )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
What never asks questions but receives a lot of answers?
The Telephone.
Interesting Fact: The oldest recorded Semipalmated Sandpiper was at least 14 years, 2 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New Brunswick. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Semipalmated_Sandpiper/overview )
Through Open Lens 