So... seabirds and shorebirds for this week's SMAP! Probably some of the species that we're more used to see, especially the ones living near the seashore. And although there are a ton of species fit the theme, let's go for the most common ones: seagulls!
Better said... seagulls are not a species, rather several members of the Laridae family! And although we have a few of them here in Portugal, I'll just share a couple photos of the most common one. But before, since I'm missing travelling a lot, I'll take every chance I get on this blog to refresh my memory on some of the places I was fortunate to visit so... off to Turkey, where seagulls are part of good memories!
In one of the days in Istambul, I caught a boat for a ride in the Bosphorus; it was the end of an awesome day, the last day of the solo part of my trip to the country, and admiring the city from a different perspective at the golden hour felt like bliss. The cherry on top, was when the local gang of black-head gulls decided to tag along!
They flew so near to the boat, with acrobatic manouvers along the way. I soon understood why they were there: on the balcony, people were throwing bits of bread, and they were incredibly skilled in scooping them in mid-air. I'm not at all fond of feeding wild animals... but can't say I haven't enjoyed the show!
There, got my abroad travel fix; back to the "portuguese" seagulls!
Yellow-legged gulls are probably the most frequent seagull species in the country. These ones appeared near the golden hour in a bautiful beach in SW Portugal. You might be thinking but the legs don't seem yellow!; true, but apart from the not so great lighting, this one is still a young bird: notice the spotted plumage, in contrast with the adult plummage. Here is one of the adults:
So his legs will be "yellower" soon enough! And there was still time to snap another picture of some water sipping before he took off, together with the rest of the seagulls family.
Three turkish seagull photos, three portuguese ones... let's leave it at a tie, so no one gets upset! :)
Have a great week everyone!
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