Ode to the Seagull

Okay, maybe not an actual ode because I cannot write poems (very much disliked that section in English class), but metaphorically and photographically it will be a tribute...maybe that's a better word!

Seagulls rule the sky here. There are other birds, like pigeons and large black crows, but the seagulls are monsters here. Being up high in the sky with our expansive view of the sky we get to observe the seagulls a lot from our couch. They love the chimneys; they sit on them often. After 5 months of watching this behavior I have concluded they each have a chimney group that is "theirs"and only one other seagull at a time is allowed over onto his set of chimneys. Honestly. There are never more than 2 seagulls sitting together at a time and there is usually just one. Some days they sit for a long time on their chimneys, other days they do take off and landing practice, not resting long on the chimneys. And other times (reasons are still unknown) they sit beside their chimneys.

The gulls are also VERY loud! I am hearing them earlier in the morning already. I wonder what it will be like when the sun is up long before we want to wake up (i.e. in the summer when the sun rises at 4:30am). It's part of the sounds we hear everyday so it would be weird to not hear them and be in Aberdeen since I am now used to that.

Today on my way out to work I noticed a huge mess by the trash bins outside on the street. I suspected the seagulls must have been responsible. Given the scene I photographed this afternoon on another street as I walked home from the park, I'd say I was right!
He finally stood and stared at me after this shot, saw I had proof of his destruction, and then flew off to glare at me from his perch. He looks pretty grumpy, doesn't he!?

One of my favorite things about the seagulls is when it is a windy day and they gather in the sky just over the rooftops looking out from our living room. They somehow catch a stream of air and soar/float in circles only flapping their wings occasionally. It is even more spectacular when the sun is shining from behind our flat onto their white bodies, so they look like they are glowing. Even though they are gliding, they have still been too fast for my camera to catch on film, except for this one shot that I enjoyed enhancing with Picasa's photo tools. Kinda gives you an idea of what it is like, with a slightly artistic touch!
Thinking still of Matthew 6:25-34, God has often used these birds out my window as a reminder of verse 25 & 26 "Do not be worried about your life...Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"