Yellow-legged Gull, Casablanca, Morocco
Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco
It has been a few months since I shared some of the bird photos I took while on a six week overseas holiday a year ago. I’ve already shown the bird photos I took in Ethiopia when we were visiting our daughter. To see these photos, go to the Archives of this site and scroll down the page until you get to the posts about Ethiopia.
After our stay in Ethiopia we flew to Morocco via Cairo for a two week tour of the country. This was primarily a cultural tour, so the opportunities for serious birding were very limited. I took every opportunity to get a few bird photos along the way, as time and circumstances allowed.
On our first morning in Casablanca we visited the enormous and beautiful Hassan II Mosque, shown in the photo above. You can see more photos of this wonderful building on my other site, Trevor’s Travels.
While we were waiting outside for our guided tour of the mosque, I noticed a few bird species flying around, or perching as in the photos below. I managed to identify Cattle Egret, Rock Dove (many around the mosque), Common Starling, Common Blackbird and what I think is Yellow-legged Gull. I don’t have a bird guide to the birds of Morocco, so I’ve had to rely on online resources. If any more experienced birder can identify these birds correctly, please let me know in the comments.
I apologise for the poor quality of the photos.
Yellow-legged Gull, Casablanca, Morocco
Yellow-legged Gull, Casablanca, Morocco
Yellow-legged Gull, Casablanca, Morocco
One legged Silver Gull at Horseshoe Bay
One legged Silver Gull, Horseshoe Bay, South Australia
Every now and then I see a gull with part of a leg missing. The birds with this disability were probably attached by a fish or shark at some stage. Despite not being totally intact, they seem to manage quite well.
On a recent visit to the south coast of South Australia – Horseshoe Bay near Victor Harbor, we saw the gull featured above with only one leg. again, it seemed to be in top notch health and coping really well.
Below I have included a few more photos of Silver Gulls taken at the same time. This continues my photographic fascination with this very common species.
Silver Gull, Horseshoe Bay, South Australia
Silver Gull, Horseshoe Bay, South Australia
Silver Gulls, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
5 Comments »20th July, 2012; Category: Gulls and Terns, Murray Bridge, Photos, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Waterbirds
Silver Gull, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
I know that Silver gulls are very common throughout Australia, but I must admit that I always enjoy taking photos of them. Generally, they are not at all afraid of humans (except for those over-active little versions who insist on chasing them), so they are usually very easy photographic subjects to practice on. On my recent visit to the local Sturt Reserve I managed several acceptable shots of some of the gulls, as shown here on this post today.
Silver Gulls, despite often acting as garbage disposal units on beaches, river banks and picnic areas, are quite beautiful birds in my view. They have such clean lines and pure colours. I usually forget their scavenging habits and concentrate on the positive aspects of their appearance.
Silver Gull, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Silver Gull, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Crested Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Crested Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
As regular readers of this site would know, I live in the rural city of Murray Bridge in South Australia. Our city straddles Australia’s largest waterway, the Murray River. Last week I took an hour out of my busy schedule to take a few photos of birds at Sturt Reserve, named after the early explorer, Charles Sturt who sailed past this spot in 1830.
One of the birds I photographed on the small jetty in the reserve was a Crested Tern. This part of the river is probably about 100km upstream from the river mouth (I’m guessing) but we have several bird species more common along the coast venture upstream this far, including the Crested Terns and the Caspian Terns.
Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge, South Australia
Crested Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Crested Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Crested Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Birding at Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Silver Gull, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
A few weeks ago went had a family get together. Our son and family were over here for our grandson’s 3rd birthday, and my wife’s sister and niece and her family came down from the mid north of the state. we had a barbecue lunch at home and in the afternoon we went to Sturt Reserve so the children could play on the excellent playground there.
This reserve is popular with locals and visitors. It has plenty of lawn areas for picnics along the banks of the Murray River. After the children had played for a while we all went for a short stroll along the river bank. I had my camera ready – but more for people shots. I wasn’t really taking all that much notice of the birds. I still managed a few good shots as shown here. The Whiskered Terns (see photo below) was a challenged as they constantly flew over the water. I must practise more at photographing birds in flight.
Whiskered Tern, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge
Little Black Cormorant, Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge