One of the more common sea birds on the south coast of England is the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). Found on cliff tops and buildings, this sequence was taken in May and shows a nesting gull and her chicks. The chicks were born sometime between 24-26 May 2008, probably the latter part of that period. This makes them a day or so old in the shots prefixed 270508.

Photographing nesting birds requires care and caution in order not to alarm the adults, causing them to abandon the nest. The photos were taken from a safe distance away, from inside a neighbouring building. The birds were unaware of my presence.

I used the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens and (for some of the shots) I also used a Kenko Teleplus 1.4x Pro 300 DG teleconverter. All the close-ups are quite heavily cropped.

Photographing some wild birds or their nests is illegal. For more information see this RSPB Bird Photography information sheet (pdf file).