Ring-billed Gull

In an attempt at a New Year's not-quite-resolution, I'm going to restart my blog as an observational record of one year.  I plan to get outside at least a little bit most every day and focus on one animal, plant or natural vista that presents itself to me.  The more I pay attention to nature, the more I notice and the more I notice, the more fascinating things become.   Last year, I spotted more birds then I ever knew passed through Laramie, and more wildflower varieties than I ever knew even existed.  I saw and photographed my first pocket gopher (a funny looking little creature) as he dug a tunnel.  I followed bear prints in the snow.  I got down on the ground to smell the flowers and watch the little insects that always seem to be inside them.  I hope my sharper observation leads me to one day see the mountain lion that I know has seen me.

So, New Year's Day.  I had the opportunity to spend a little time on a Hilton Head Island, South Carolina beach on the last day of my Christmas vacation.  The Carolina coast attracts numerous birds throughout the year, and on this visit I saw beautiful hooded mergansers, numerous herons and egrets, cute dunlins and sandpipers, and even a bufflehead.  On January 1, though, the ring-billed gulls were putting on a show.

The Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, is often thought of as a garbage bird, hanging around dumpsters or restaurants, but it shows its beauty when riding the breeze on the beach.  These birds are acrobatic and nimble and can catch and steal food in mid-air with amazing ease.  I observed an entire gang in a long and involved game as a whole piece of sliced bread changed possession from beak to beak.

These adaptable birds generally spend the summers inland -- even in Wyoming! -- but also winter on the coast.  Watching them riding the sea breeze and suddenly congregating wherever a person had bread or other treats was a cheerful start to the year.