One Foot In The Air and On The Ground (1) - 10 February 2017

For all their growing reputation for aggression, especially in urban environments, I rather like gulls. It was not a great surprise to see one (of very many) in seaside Looe but the behaviour of this adult Herring Gull was quite astonishing. It was in Fore Street but not entirely hemmed in, which gulls loathe, because there was a car park behind it and to one side. It approached a chip shop and was staring at the closed side door much as a cat might. It was looking up towards the glazed section clearly in expectation and, in a short while, that expectation was fulfilled as someone cracked the door and threw out something interesting. The gull remained in the hope of more and, was, seemingly, much less perturbed by the proximity of pedestrians than similar birds. Throughout its visit it adopted the peculiar one foot raised posture shown in my three pictures. I ruled out an ingrowing toenail so I thought perhaps it was preparation for a hasty departure.

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