Spent about 20 minutes today watching a pair of seagulls. These birds certainly don't qualify as the most graceful creatures, but they were fascinating to watch. Their flight skills definitely left something to be desired. However, they excel at crash landings. After laboriously flapping their wings circling around the inner coast, the birds would suddenly drop into the ocean below to scoop up an unsuspecting fish.

A few days ago Susan and I noticed an increase in the quantity and size of these schools. These large schools of fish look like dark clouds floating just under the surface of the ocean not 10 feet from the shoreline. They swim so close to the top of the water that they get flipped out into the air when the waves pass by.

It was these schools of fish my two seagull friends were interested in today. Every so often, each bird would suddenly stop flapping its wings and zoom head first into the water. Making a large splash and going under for just a brief time, the bird would then pop back up and enjoy his new snack only to repeat the process a few moments later.

Back during flight school one of my instructors compared my flying skills to that of a seagull. I now realize that was probably not meant to be a compliment. Think I will go fishing soon. - jt