One of my favorite groups of birds are gulls. Yes, I know they are maligned by many and completely under-appreciated by others, but they never cease to entertain me. Here's just one example:

Today I found myself on a high perch in Birch Bay. From this perch I was scanning rooftops. One ranch style home has not one but TWO owl decoys, one placed at each end. This rooftop hosted 37 gulls and probably more that I couldn't see as they were spilling over onto the sides. Of the more than 100 other rooftops which all lacked owl decoys, I could find no more than 2 gulls on any other roof. To top this, one of the gulls near a decoy was actively preening itself and was evidently having trouble getting something off the top of its head so he/she actually scooted a bit closer to the owl decoy and began using it as a "head scrubber." I had to laugh and I'm sure my view would have made for great Gary Larson material.

Cindy Ashy