Scavengers of the Bay

  I guess the old adage "desperate times call for desperate measures" rings true a good bit, here on the Bayou.  With the north winds of winter hitting the Bay, the tide is often far out from the shoreline.  This creates a problem for many of the shorebirds as the fish all move to deeper water.  Waders such as egrets and herons scavenge the tide pools while others such as pelicans and gulls usually just move with the fish. However, sometimes the gulls are just too lazy to go hunt for their food.  Gull are notorious thieves and will steal fish right from a pelicans bill or fight over some tidbit dropped by another bird.  They are not picky eaters and will gulp down anything that resembles a meal.  This morning's hike to the pier proved that bit about their selection of a meal.  It was not a pretty sight.

  As the old dog and I watched the few birds that remained on the mudflats, one lone seagull caught my eye.  This bird was not doing the normal diving that gulls are prone to do.  Instead, it was wading which is a rather unusual tactic for a gull.  I pondered what was attracting the gull to wade in knee-deep water when suddenly the bird darted for something under the water.  With its head still beneath the surface, the gull tugged for all its worth on something.  Then, up came the head, the bird gasped for breath and went back to work on its meal.  It was a bob and drag ordeal for several minutes before the bird managed to break free its quarry.   The bird was one happy camper with its....long dead fish.  Obviously, someone had recently cleaned fish and dropped the scrap remains overboard.  This is a practice of most local folks as the fish remains draw other fish, crabs and, obviously, birds.  The gull had been tugging on the long skin of one side of a pretty nice sized fish.  The remains of the fish were half buried in the sloppy mud and it was quite the strenuous ordeal for the gull to extricate the skin.  A good ten minute battle with the dead fish gave the gull its breakfast albeit a rotten one.  Like I said...gulls are not picky eaters.