This shot worked out WAY better...in fact this is maybe one of the best pictures I've ever made! Woo hoo! The requirements for this were fast shutter and small aperture, so that motion is "frozen" and everything in the frame is sharply in focus.
I went down to the beach at Rattray Marsh on Lake Ontario and set up at the edge of the water. It was a gorgeous day and I actually took a ton of photos. The sun was sparkly (as you can see in the top corner), there was a beautiful family of swans swimming in the lake, and hawks were soaring above the trees overhead. Incredible peace.
Saw this seagull at the edge of the water and knew he would take off eventually so I set up my exposure and framing and waited. Voila...mission accomplished.
One sad side-note: I lost one of the pieces of my mini portable tri-pod through the boardwalk into the marsh. Now it's a bi-pod. Boo.