A Gull's Story

Hi:

Checking in for today’s photo report from the beautiful northwest.
I like gulls. My wife doesn’t. We ran across the guy below just sitting on a fence at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Gulls! Yuck… how boring. But wait; there really is a story about this particular gull. He’s not as bird-brained as he looks.

So this gull is just sitting there. Cindy is not interested in him (or her) except that he refuses to move – almost like he’s on guard. She asks me, “Why is he just sitting there?” I tell her there’s a guy that comes by most days to feed the gulls. “He’s probably just waiting for food,” I say.

Cars come and go in the parking lot and the gull patiently remains at his post – pun intended. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of an old, faded red car and Mr. Passive begins screaming his head off. Notice in the picture that there is just one gull, right? Not for long.

Sure enough it’s dinner time (closer to lunch, really). Anyway, it’s the guy with the food and in less time than it takes him to get out of his car, the sky is full of gulls.

I think gulls are beautiful. Their wings remind me of angels. Gulls also remind me of flying rats. They do love their food, but there is no denying they are art in the air.

Turns out the kindly gentleman in the photo above has been making the trip out to what are now the DNWR and Three Crabs Restaurant to toss bread to “his” gulls for fifty-five years. Now that’s dedication! And it’s part of why I love living in the Pacific Northwest. There’s always something interesting (or someone) to discover.

Here’s looking at you. The guys below asked me to pass along that the next time you visit the refuge, bring food.

Sorry, but a ‘gull’ has to make a living somehow. I know, I know. Bad pun.

Cheers….Bob