The Seagul Talks
By Brittany Butts
4 Apr 2009
Did I ever tell you that I love seagulls? Further, did I ever tell you that I enjoy talking to them? And that on occasion they have talked back? No, I'm not crazy. But if a seagull approaches you while you are eating, and you mimic them well enough, they will call on the rest of the flock assuming that you will share with them all. This has happened at a picnic table, the beach and at this duck pond.
I'm pretty good at mimicking seagull cries. I've been doing it for about nine years. And now that I am more serious about my photography than I ever was before, I find that it is a useful skill when shooting one of my favorite subjects. I have found myself at times receiving stares and an occasional laugh from standers by when calling to me winged friends. Sometimes I will just call to them because they seem to enjoy a game of call and respond on occasion and I am happy to oblige.
My love for seagulls began, I believe, when I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach at the age of twelve. The book is full of photographs of seagulls in flight. Later, when my interests turned to scriptwriting and media production the book and the subject inspired me to write a screenplay very loosely based on the book. This began my interest in photographing these beautiful birds.
The birds in these photographs are used to human interaction. This is a lovely "duck feeding" pond in the middle of a wooded area near the botanical gardens. They were very animated and fun to photograph. Sometimes it seemed as if they knew that I was taking their pictures. At times waiting until the shutter stopped and at other times spreading their wings majestically in "poses."
My greatest wish is to get a chance to shoot the seagull's great cousin the albatross! I wonder how they talk. I'm going to need to practice. And... I'm going to need a wider lens!
