Omaisuus.
Omaisuus is Finnish for property. The juvenile gulls are fighting fiercely over the ownership of a fish (looks like a perch). The adult gull is looking over from the side. At times the adult joined the melee and in the end when the fight moved to dry land, the adult managed to pick up the fish from the ground and fly away. Sadly, I couldn’t get good shots of all the the three in fight or the adult flying away.
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They are so beautiful, the pattern on their feathers is wonderfully intricate.
Caine @ 1
I’ve never thought of how intricate that pattern is. This is one of the year things where a fresh view will reveal a lot.
The gulls we have here are the plain white variety, so yours look exotic in comparison, more like a hawk than a gull, except for those magnificent webbed feet. :D
It’s just in their wild youth that they get to wear that plumage. In full adulthood it’s the plain white head and body in the summer and white and gray head and body in the winter (not that they’re seen much in that plumage here).
Oh, that’s the baby plumage! It’s very pretty.
Interesting bird. They look very raptorial, yet they have webbed feet. I’ll have to look them up. Thanks Ice Swimmer (and Caine)!
Ooops, should have asked: Exactly what kind of gull is this?
Also, I agree with Caine: the juvenile plumage is gorgeous.
Crip Dyke @ 7
The adult was a European herring gull (Larus argentatus), I think, a big gull, but not the biggest. The juveniles were probably also herring gulls as they were quite big and the plumage looks right.
Caine it’s more like the stroppy teen plumage!
Gulls can be pretty vicious.
Wonderful series of action shots, Ice Swimmer! Your gulls appear to be exactly the same as ours.
That reminds me, I have some gull shots from last summer I was meaning to send but then forgot.
The fight took at least 9 minutes. All three gulls seemed to subscribe to the Proudhonian-Beeblebroxian logic: If property is theft, then theft is property.
According to Wikipedia, herring gulls get their adult plumage at 4 years and they can live over 30 years in the wild.
Herring gull (in Finnish: harmaalokki, gray gull) isn’t as common in the city as the smaller common gull (Larus canus, in Finnish kalalokki, fish gull), maybe herring gulls spend more time on the sea.
Thank you, Nightjar! AFAIK, there are no gulls endemic to Finland,
Oh I think we have different species after all. Here we have mostly Larus michahellis (coastal areas) and Larus canus (more common in cities and in interior areas). They look very similar.