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Monday 16 April 2018

Sea gulls ...

The WonderDog and I have just been out for a wander along the cliff tops. I've been rather busy over the weekend with lots of people coming and going, so it was my first opportunity in quite a while to just be alone with my thoughts.




Do you ever feel that life gets too noisy sometimes? I love my family and friends. I adore spending time with them, and I love it when they all come for the weekend, but sometimes it's good to leave everyone behind and simply sit on top of the cliffs and listen to the waves beating against the shore. On most days, with the breeze blowing in from the sea, there's also a gentle whistling noise as the wind blows through the big Costa Brava pine trees. It's very soothing. And then, every now and then, there's the mournful call of the seagulls. Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, the call of the seagulls always transports me in a heartbeat straight back to the sea. It's the most evocative sound I know.


I'm fascinated by the big herring gulls that maraud the coastline here. They drop bones - rather substantial bones - on the upper terrace at home, where I hang my clothes out to dry on wash days. I'm always amazed by how cleanly they pick off the flesh. Those bones are always bare and barren and white by the time they hit my deck. Sometimes they're joined to other bones with a picked-clean articulation in between.


The WonderDog barks furiously at them, and kids himself that he could give them a really good seeing to - if only I'd let him off his leash. But if there were to be any sort of confrontation between him and a herring gull, I'm sorry, but my money would be firmly on the gull.


I remember our next-door neighbour back in Ireland used to keep geese. She insisted that they were better guard dogs than the short-haired collies that they kept for herding their cattle. One day, as a very small girl, I did something - what exactly, I can't remember - to offend the top goose. She came after me like an exocet missile. And I've had a deep respect for the pecking power of big birds ever since.


I've got a sneaking feeling that those big gulls would be just as powerful as that long-ago goose if they were to take umbrage at something we did. So I think the WonderDog and I will stick with long-lenses, short leashes and a firm policy of admiring them from a safe distance.



All the best for now,

Bonny x

1 comment:

  1. Oh yes. Birds are gorgeous, but they can be quite fierce -- I once angered a bunch of Canada Geese, and it was one of most frightening moments of my life!

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