Sketching Out Blog: Sketches of art, watercolor, photos, recipes, books, interviews, Jewish topics, and Highland Park, New Jersey

Seagulls at Point Pleasant Beach

seagulls at Point Pleasant beach in New Jersey
What a lot of seagulls we saw at Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey. My daughter was a bit frightened of how low they swooped while we sat on the beach. It was crowded with humans; I’m pretty sure there were more humans than seagulls, but that fact is debatable.

umbrella two seagulls at beach
What do you notice about the seagulls?

seagull by blanket
I couldn’t figure out when they wanted to hang out and when they preferred to fly about. There was a lot of both going on.

flying seagulls
A whole lot of flapping of wings and flying off in this photo.

jumping seagull
This seagull in the middle looks like he is jumping.

crowd of seagulls some flying
A crowd of seagulls do their thing, flying or flapping or hanging around.

seagulls in sky
And they are off: flying in the sky are the seagulls.

seagull
Thank you to this seagull for posing nicely for my camera.

There are more than just seagulls at Point Pleasant Beach. There are amusement rides, mini golf, arcades, a boardwalk, a fun house, lots of junk food being sold (at about 4 pm half the people I saw held an ice cream cone), and many beach umbrellas.

Lorri M. says

What lovely captures of the seagulls, each photo a beauty in its own. I like the capture of color (umbrella and blanket) giving contrast within the environment.

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Leora says

Yes, the blanket/towel one is my favorite. Bit of color as backdrop for my seagull friend.

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Eileen says

Pretty shots of the gulls, I love going to the beach. Enjoy your week ahead!

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Leora says

I can't say I enjoy the beach much, but my kids do. I find it too hot.

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Hannah says

You have captured them beautifully. In Wales, we saw lots of seagulls, but they were much bigger and their beak was yellow.

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Leora says

Thank you for pointing out the difference between American and Welsh seagulls!

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Carver says

Great shots of the gulls. A lot of action going on with them.

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Leora says

Yup - busy they are!

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a spirit of simplicity says

We live on the beach. Seagulls are very pretty and I love to hear them in the early morning hours or at sunset. I like to see them flying above the sea. However, they are pests! They will tear apart a picnic and rip into all the food while you are enjoying a swim! I have seen them descend upon a poor unsuspecting family who had brought a pizza. The minute they opened the box dozens of birds flew down and ate the entire pizza!

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Leora says

I can believe they are pesky! I'm not surprised that they love pizza.

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Karen, Pixel Posts says

I like gulls, looks like there are quite a variety on the shore! Great shots!

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Leora says

I'm not sure how much I like them, but they were fun to watch and shoot with my camera.

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Hootin' Anni says

Terrific. First off, nothing in this world surpasses the beauty of a sandy beach on any kind of day. And your gull photos are outstanding. I really like the one with the umbrella. Such great dimension.

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Leora says

Thanks for pointing out the one with the umbrella. I like specific mentions of the photos I took.

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Cynthia M. says

Oooh, great shots of those gulls! They may be common, but the nice thing is that because they're all over the place you can really watch them up close. Are those laughing gulls, with the black heads?

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Leora says

Good question! They do look like a variety of gulls.

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bettyl says

The beach is a wonderful place to find so many different things, but sea gulls are still the most entertaining creatures.

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Leora says

There wasn't much on the beach other than humans and seagulls.

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Laura Hegfield says

Beautiful Leora... may you sail deeper into Elul on wings as feathered and light.

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Leora says

Laura, beautifully said - may Elul bring reflection and good tidings for us all.

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EG CameraGirl says

You seem to have found a few species of gulls there but perhaps some were already in their nob-breeding feathers and others were juveniles. Gulls are fun to watch, I think.

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Leora says

I didn't notice at the time, about the variety of species, but they do look varied in the photos.

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Vicki says

Great shots! I love that fourth one best.

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Michelle Rambling Woods says

Oh..you are a bird watcher again... Gulls are a nightmare to identify because they can be different colors over a period of years before they attain their adult plumage..I know people find them pesty, I look at them as survivors and taking advantage of the mess that we humans leave behind...I would love to be that close to the shore...Michelle

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Leora says

They are a little like pigeons - so commonplace that you assume they are just part of the woodwork. Thanks for the explanation of the plumage and changes. I like watching birds, but in the summer my yard has too much green so they hide in the trees. In the winter, I can see them more easily on the bare branches.

I saw a squirrel eating in my little bird feeder, and a cardinal flying away. I shooed off the squirrel. My daughter remarked, why do you favor one (the cardinal) just because it's prettier? I argued that I put out food for the cardinal, but she does have a point.

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Michelle says

Oh your daughter reminds me of mine... smart!!!! Yes.. I do feed the squirrels, but they can be bottomless pits when it comes to food. This time of year some of the birds like blue jays, nuthatched and titmice start taking seeds and tucking them away for the winter. Squirrels do the same thing. I guess we are heading into fall...sigh...Michelle

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