Hola,
Growing up in coastal Massachusetts you become accustomed to the crunch of
broken shells under your feet when walking along little-used causeways or in
vacant parking lots directly along the ocean in winter. Just a couple weeks
ago I read the Boston Globe sports page while in the little fishing village of
Lobsterville on Martha's Vineyard, with the occasional glance at a few
Herring Gulls that were bombarding a little patch of cement. Watching gulls
drop
shells is rather amusing. What I'm often impressed by is when they drop a
shell atop a concrete seawall that might only be a couple feet wide, watching
them miss, retrieve the shell, and then try again. They eventually figure out
to compensate for the wind. Tennis courts are a particular favorite. I've
always wondered how difficult it must be to clean a tennis court that has
been used as a nutcracker by a few thousand herring gulls for a season.
Between the shells, overlooked clam guts, and gallons of gull excrement, it has
to
be a difficult task.
I've even heard lore of them dropping alcids. Poor Little Auks.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, VA, USA
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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