“Black-tailed Gulls (Larus crassirostris) were common at the Nemuro Peninsula and we have a number of opportunities to watch them.
“I saw a pair feeding for an extended period in a less common manner. They would float on the shallow sea near the coast until the spot a prey, having put the head under water to be sure. They would then push up with the wings to gain a little height and plunge down deeper to gain access to the prey on the shallow sea bed. In this case a crustacean (crab) (above). They would then fly off to a nearby rocky site to feed.
“I saw this method a number of times at one location and I suspect it only works in shallow waters with slower moving prey. Feeding by immersion is a recognised method (see HBW 2019).
“One episode is captured in the GIF shown below as video.”
“A composite image of some sequences below.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
8th June 2019
Location: Nemuro Peninsula, East Hokkaido, Japan