Lots of great pictures were taken in Half Moon Bay this weekend. (Why should we quibble over who pushed the button on the camera?)
It was a weekend filled with interesting moments; this was one of my favorites. When I first saw this guy, standing at the ocean’s edge, I thought he was carrying a stick. He looked like he was waiting for someone to play fetch with him, which made me contemplate whether he was more or less evolved than your average seagull. Then a quick zoom of the camera made me realize this was more a circle-of-life story than a seagull-believes-he’s-a-dog one.
Now what?
We watched him for about five minutes. I really wondered how he would solve his dilemma, given his non-flexible, non-star-shaped beak. I wanted him to drop the starfish on the ground, pick up a rock and pound his catch into bite size pieces, proving that he was, in fact, a highly evolved seagull after all. But he never did. He just stood there looking sort of triumphant and confused. An expression familiar to me as I see it in the mirror all the time. (Minus the feathers, of course… and the mouth full of starfish.)
Beaks don't stretch like lips do...
I was going to make some sort of profound point about wanting things that truly are impossible, or the danger in being unwilling to let go and move on, or maybe the folly of eating starfish without silverware… but I won’t. Sometimes a bird with a starfish is just a bird with a starfish, right?
Up next? My thoughts on fashion. (Be afraid.)
Look closely, it’s as if the bird has a perplexed look on his face; as if he is thinking “Hmmm… what would Johnathan do?”
cmw
i think he’s just glad that you guys had your camera on him when he caught that starfish. he probably wants you to send him the pics so he can post them on his facebook site because none of his other seagull friends believe he caught a starfish T-H-I-S B-I-G! (<– insert 4 foot seagull wingspan here.) ;-)
great shots, guys!
great pics…he really does look bewildered…you’re so clever.
cmw, a literary reference. much better than wtf, which is more what i was thinking!
jb, i forgot to ask him for his email address. hope his seagull friends read my blog!
dk, he really did. every now and then, he’d attempt to get it further down his throat, but, of course, that wasn’t going to happen. poor guy. metaphorically speaking, i’ve been there.
I love that Seagull pic soooooo much! I wish you would write a child’s story about him :-) I can’t wait to show it to my daughter. Looking at the world through Judy’s eyes is fun!
carey, maybe you should write that children’s book! (you could, you know…)