Saturday, August 29, 2009

Fortress Seagulls

Seagull on top the Mastio di Matilde, Matilda's Keep, Fortezza Vecchia, Old Fortress, LivornoAfter “city seagulls” and “harbour seagulls” we see now a couple of “fortress seagulls”, watching the world below from the bastions of the “Fortezza Vecchia”. The first one rules on top of the 30 meter high “Mastio di Matilde” (Matilda's Keep), with a wonderful view on the Venice quarter and the whole harbour.Seagull on the wall between the Canaviglia and the Ampolletta bastions, Fortezza Vecchia, Old Fortress, LivornoThe second bird contented himself of the view from the wall between the “Canaviglia” and the “Ampolletta” bastions.

20 comments:

Sunny said...

Excellent pictures. The markings on the tail feathers of the first seagull are quite interesting.
Sunny :)

stromsjo said...

Keeping watch. Being watched. Good to meet the distant cousins of our own Guthrie Gull. Very well captured!

Lowell said...

Those are beautiful birds, VP! Prettier by far than our gulls, I think.

Excellent photos too - really brings out their "gullness."

VP said...

Thank you Jacob, after the verb "to embig", "gullness" will be my favorite word!

brattcat said...

that second gull has struck such a noble pose.

Lowell said...

@ VP - You're welcome. Glad to add to your vocabulary. You don't have to mention where you got those words, right?

James said...

I never thought I would say this but I actually miss seeing seagulls. I enjoyed your pictures.

Nori Katayama said...

Really, really good pohos and your captions!

Unknown said...

Seagulls are pretty when you can't hear them. ;)

margaret said...

In Scotland we call those big guys 'herring gulls', and being born on the North Sea I like their call (sorry Yoork!:)) What I like best about them though is the way they perch on things with a sense of ownership. Pigeons always look as if they're trespassing or borrowing but gulls OWN it and the two you have photographed are surveying the entire city with a sense of ownership.

amatamari© said...

I love the seagulls also if eat crap!
:-)
Great photos!!!

:-)

Hilda said...

I love the first photo! He looks like a king surveying his kingdom.

cieldequimper said...

What am I going to have for lunch? Is there a fishing boat in sight?

Unknown said...

I love the 1st shot! Both seagull and background are fantastic!

Fio said...

Excellent :-))

tapirgal said...

More nice gulls! You'll have to find many more quarters of the city so we can keep having seagull pictures. These look a lot like out Astoria gulls, but I don't know about the eyes. Your gulls have such clear, pale eyes. They're really striking and beautiful. I'll have to look at ours more closely. Maybe they're cousins.

Rob Siemann said...

Beautiful scavengers! Having problems with them here, mostly cleaning problems, as they forget themselves quite happily on my terrace.

Ellie said...

You are a true professional - birds are so hard to catch in such perfection and quality! I can't catch a bird - no matter how hard I try.

Cezar and Léia said...

They are amazing birds!I like the background city in the first shot and the second one is so beautiful with the blue sky!
Were they posing for your camera?
Léia

Baruch said...

It seems like seagulls are the same all over the world :)