A brisk ocean breeze kept the beachcombers bundled, but the shorebirds seemed oblivious. They were busy finding food. Every day in the wild, survival depends on eating enough and avoiding being eaten, and these birds are survivors, albeit via diverse means.
At first glance, this willet seemed to be escaping reality by burying its head in the proverbial sand.
In reality, it was plucking an unlucky sand-dweller from its home; no longer a survivor is he.
Burrow. Pluck. Eat. Repeat...
Same game, same result, different tactics. This large gull is having great success locating and retrieving bay scallops, but wisely resists swallowing them whole in the manner of a willet downing a mole crab.
The hard-baked asphalt makes a very effective ally in the shell-cracking game. Judging from all the empty shells littering the road, this gull's destined for survival as well.
Not so, the scallop and its unfortunate tunicate hitchhiker, the soon to be dehydrated sea squirt.
Survival's no laughing matter for this laughing gull. One moment lurking quietly nearby, the next laughing hysterically, this hunter methodically stalks the surf fisherman, waiting patiently for numb fingers to fumble the bait.
When the inevitable happens... carpe diem!!!
Roughly translated, "seize the bait."
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