Black-headed Gull

I'm a great fan of these gregarious, bold and sometimes downright cheeky birds. Photographing them is always a toss-up between a frame filled with fantastic action or, often enough, a frame empty apart from blue sky or a blur of wings. They're quick on the wing – able to turn on a sixpence – and in the water (at least when there is food about) they are frantic in the desire to gobble up whatever they can. In the first shot, the bird on the left had just stolen a chunk of bread from the other; it can be seen just about to disappear down the gull's throat. In the second, I simply like the way the gull caught by the camera's motion focus appears to be looking straight down the barrel of the lens.

Canon 1Ds MkII

1. 1/800 sec, f/8, 200mm at ISO 400

2. 1/1,600 sec, f/11, 200mm at ISO 400