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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

People are complicated. Love is not.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

We still have time to mess this up!

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / The Tale of the Gagging Gull

The Tale of the Gagging Gull

by Betty Cracker|  January 31, 20243:13 pm| 132 Comments

This post is in: Birdwatching, Open Threads

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Did I ever tell y’all about the time a seagull ruined a romantic picnic I staged on the shore of the Charles River in Boston? The dude I was trying to impress was my last boyfriend before I came back home to Florida and met my husband, to whom I’ve been married for almost 27 years, so it was a long time ago…

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread 15

I got the idea for an outdoor lunch after I won a wicker picnic basket in a raffle. I stuffed it with hand-crafted goodies like crustless sandwiches, noodle salad and chocolate-dipped strawberries. I acquired a bottle of Mouton Cadet, which was the fanciest wine I could conceive of at the time.

All this we carted to a dock near the Esplanade. We spread our red-and-white gingham picnic blanket, sat down, uncorked the wine, filled our glasses and began distributing food onto our plastic plates.

Just then, a LARGE seagull landed on the dock a few feet away. At first, we were fascinated and charmed by its proximity and watched it, smiling. Then, it reared back its head and violently vomited up a half-masticated fish onto the dock! Immediately, the gull attempted to swallow the fish again, getting it half-way down its gullet before gagging it onto the deck again.

The commotion attracted other seagulls, who tried to swoop in to take the fish (and dive-bomb our plates). The activity increased the frantic attempts of the original gull to eat the fish it had barfed up. It repeated the half-swallow-and-gag process half a dozen times or more until it finally succeeded in swallowing the entire fish again and flew away.

It was so gross! We lost our appetite for lunch but finished the wine. The romance was soon finished too — for unrelated reasons. I don’t know why, but I recalled the incident for the first time in many years yesterday and thought I’d share. I hope no one is reading this over lunch!

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

132Comments

  1. 1.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    January 31, 2024 at 3:16 pm

    I just finished my lunch. No danger though, the story strikes me as funny.

  2. 2.

    narya

    January 31, 2024 at 3:20 pm

    It’s almost like the tale of a political party and their laws around bodily autonomy for half the population . . .

  3. 3.

    Dangerman

    January 31, 2024 at 3:22 pm

    Ok, if we are going for gross out and gulls, I’m here for you. Hide your eyes if you are about to eat.

    You’ve been warned. Twice.

    A few miles north of Hearst Castle is a big (BIG) elephant seal rookery. Really interesting place. Great place to educate your kids about birds, bees, and elephant seals.

    Third warning.

    If you want to know where an elephant seal was just born, watch the gulls. I guess afterbirth is a delicacy.

    For the curious, not many long fights among the males. The loser knows it’s about to have its ass kicked in front of all the potential mates and turns and runs quickly.

  4. 4.

    Harrison Wesley

    January 31, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    GERD, the seasick seagull.

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 31, 2024 at 3:24 pm

    I have to assume you are familiar with this now-classic story. Actually, I think I might have shared it here a few years ago. Yours isn’t quite as messy, but nearly as funny!

  6. 6.

    Quaker in a Basement

    January 31, 2024 at 3:25 pm

    ahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahaha!

  7. 7.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 3:27 pm

    Who here hasn’t had to wash seagull shit out of their hair?  Or been gobsmacked by camel spit? Or had to use urine to counteract a jellyfish sting? Or had a pelican almost take an arm off?

  8. 8.

    Almost Retired

    January 31, 2024 at 3:28 pm

    Typical American.  In some societies, Seagull barf with fish heads is considered a delicacy.

  9. 9.

    Jharp

    January 31, 2024 at 3:30 pm

    I thought this was headed towards the gull made a doo doo on your picnic.

    Be warned. About the large birds by the water.

    I once witnessed a direct hit by a pelican.  It was closer to a bucket of water than a bird dropping.

    The victims sweatshirt went straight into the trash.

  10. 10.

    Scout211

    January 31, 2024 at 3:30 pm

    Betty, where is your artwork to accompany this lovely tale?

  11. 11.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 3:32 pm

    Years ago a group of friends and I went to one of the beaches near LA — Santa Monica or Malibu or somewhere around there — and laid out our towels and blankets and stuff on the sand. At some point, I had a bag of nuts or chips or something that I was munching on as I lounged and set the bag down beside me. It took about 3 seconds before this really aggressive gull comes hopping up and grabs the thing before I could react and starts hopping away with it in its beak. I try to give pursuit, but then he tries to fly off and drops it, scattering nuts all over the sand, which then immediately attracted like 20 other nearby gulls who all started swarming the spot as I tried desperately to reclaim what little of my snack might be left in the bag. No chance. It was like something out of The Birds. Under constant attack, we had to pick up all our stuff and flee like 250 feet away before they left us alone. Those fuckers are insane.

  12. 12.

    Dangerman

    January 31, 2024 at 3:33 pm

    @TBone: OK, if one is stung by a Jellyfish, how is Urine quickly procured? In polite society, I mean.

    I have a related all time gross out story but I’ll save it for another time. Doctors appointment approaching.

  13. 13.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    @TBone: Or had a pelican almost take an arm off?

    I don’t know about taking an arm off, but they do sometimes try to swallow live pigeons whole.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 3:35 pm

    Headline reminiscent of Hardy Boys books.
    :)

  15. 15.

    Harrison Wesley

    January 31, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    Under the general heading of Getting Shit On, just saw that a Federal judge threw out Disney’s case against DeSantis.  Score: Big Mouse – 0, White Boots – 1.  Suck it, woke libtards!

  16. 16.

    ArchTeryx

    January 31, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    @Jharp: Pelicans and herons are the Devil’s own creation if you are dumb enough to be in their takeoff path. Birds poop by instinct when taking off to literally drop ballast, and if you happen to be under those two when they let go, hope you have an umbrella. They’re big birds and worse – carnivores.

  17. 17.

    kindness

    January 31, 2024 at 3:40 pm

    Yup.  Pretty much confirms Sea Gulls are rats with wings

    @Harrison Wesley: Snark?  If not, you’re going to love it here.

  18. 18.

    ArchTeryx

    January 31, 2024 at 3:42 pm

    @jonas: That one actually succeeded. Pelicans will eat anything they can stuff down their bills. They may be naturally fish-eaters, but believe me ANYTHING will do if they’re hungry. Carnivores never know when their next meal is going to be there, so they’re always ready to take advantage!

  19. 19.

    FastEdD

    January 31, 2024 at 3:43 pm

    I’m at war with the local geese. They shat all over my car and attacked me when I tried to clean it up. I had to sic the dawg on them. Bastard honkers.

  20. 20.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 3:43 pm

    @Dangerman: I’ve been to that beach during the rut and it’s kind of insane — the males are the size of Winnebagos and the females are relatively small little things who have to 1. stay out of the way as these massive males crash into each other next to them, and then 2. endure like 2 1/2 tons of horny, undulating bull seal mounting them when it’s all over. They don’t look like they’re having fun.

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    January 31, 2024 at 3:43 pm

    @Harrison Wesley: Posted in the comments downstairs.  Disney is appealing. Oh, and the judge was appointed by Trump in 2018.

  22. 22.

    Jamey

    January 31, 2024 at 3:45 pm

    BettyC has the best food related stories.  French onion soup at a business lunch is one of my all time favorite stories from anyone.

  23. 23.

    prostratedragon

    January 31, 2024 at 3:47 pm

    @TBone:  🎼 Pigeon-drop on the collar, yes, yes 🎶

  24. 24.

    ArchTeryx

    January 31, 2024 at 3:49 pm

    @FastEdD: I’m good at getting geese to back down. But when a whole flock decides to go rogue like that, the best solution (if you are home) is grab a hose with a jet sprayer head and just go to town. Believe me, you nail a goose in the face or under the tailfeathers with a jet sprayer, they’re gonna NOT hang around. No matter how aggressive they are.

    If they pull this crap (literally) when you’re out and about, yeah, siccing the dog on them was probably the best move.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 3:50 pm

    @prostratedragon

    Obligatory?
    ;)

  26. 26.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 3:52 pm

    @ArchTeryx: I forget where I saw it, but I read somewhere a while back an eyewitness account from the 1800s of a massive flock of passenger pigeons taking off out of their roost in a forest. We’re talking like millions and millions of birds over several square miles — so many it darkened the sky. But the crazy part was that the guy describes it basically raining bird shit for hours over the area as the pigeons took off and passed overhead.

  27. 27.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 31, 2024 at 3:53 pm

    Speaking of things that’ll make you gag, Nikki Haley just said that the 2015 mass shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel A.M.E. church, where nine Black worshipers were murdered in cold blood, had nothing to do with racism.

    And this is the ‘good’ GOP candidate for the nomination.  Blech.

  28. 28.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 3:55 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: JFC, what’s next? The Holocaust had nothing to do with antisemitism?

    (ETA: I remember at the time that some people were going around saying that it was “an attack on Christians” and that the shooter’s real motive was anti-religious bigotry. She’s probably still trying to fuck that chicken.)

  29. 29.

    Dangerman

    January 31, 2024 at 3:55 pm

    @jonas: Noisy, huh?

    I used to do Marine Mammal Rescue (pinniped paramedic) but we dealt minimally with the rookery. An occasional weener too stupid to figure it out (the mothers disappear about Day 26, IIRC, and weeners are on their own).

    Peak elephant seal mating is appropriately Valentines Day.

    Female elephant seals have a rough life. They are basically never not pregnant.

    ETA: An occasional animal would cross Highway 1 and we would go out to get it back on the ocean side. CHP basically said FTS and called us. Wise. Elephant seal bites are nasty (and they are pretty fast over a short distance).

  30. 30.

    karen marie

    January 31, 2024 at 3:58 pm

    @jonas:   I had a similar experience on a beach popular with families in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  A bag of Smart Food.  Not open.  Like a bullseye on my towel.

    Fucking seagull dive-bombed, hit the bag with the pointy bit of his beak so he could get a grip, snatched the bag and flew away.

    I don’t know why but the seagulls at Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea weren’t aggressive that way.  Maybe because it’s more of an inlet, so not as many?

    I don’t know but I was mighty peeved with that Gloucester bird, because I rarely buy snack food and I was looking forward to having some.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    January 31, 2024 at 3:58 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Wait. Didn’t the shooter basically say “I did it because I’m racist”?

  32. 32.

    felonious ferb

    January 31, 2024 at 4:00 pm

    Loved this story.

    @ almost retired That ‘typical American’ comment made me laugh out loud. Thanks for that.

  33. 33.

    TriassicSands

    January 31, 2024 at 4:02 pm

    I’m going to guess that very few people owe 27 years of marital bliss to a vomiting gull.

  34. 34.

    karen marie

    January 31, 2024 at 4:04 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:  Can you translate this for me?

    She then added, “But the point was I strong-armed them and said there will be a time we talk about all that. But right now, we have nine souls we need to put to rest. I didn’t have that luxury. Because two days later the killer came out draped in the Confederate flag … .”

     

    I’m guessing the “she” is Haley but other than that I’m out of guesses.

  35. 35.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 4:05 pm

    @Scout211: I don’t think Disney’s lawyers are so stupid as to have filed a frivolous case they should have known was just going to be summarily thrown out. I suspect we’ll learn that, like Eileen Cannon, this FL Trump judge is also not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    January 31, 2024 at 4:07 pm

    Via Reddit

    A Mississippi man who admitted to destroying a statue of the pagan idol Baphomet at the Iowa Capitol has been charged with a hate crime.
    …..
    Michael Cassidy, a former congressional candidate from Mississippi, was charged the following day with fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. The Lauderdale, Mississippi, man told the conservative website The Sentinel that “My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”
    Now, Polk County prosecutors have accused Cassidy of a more serious offense. A charging document made public Tuesday charges him with felony third-degree criminal mischief and notes that the act was committed “in violation of individual rights” under Iowa’s hate crime statute.

  37. 37.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 31, 2024 at 4:08 pm

    If there is any racism in this country — a claim Haley staunchly denies — but if there is, it’s all Obama’s fault.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 31, 2024 at 4:09 pm

    NEVER trust a seagull around food.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    January 31, 2024 at 4:09 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Phuck that Trifling Trick

  40. 40.

    Baud

    January 31, 2024 at 4:11 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    True. Obama’s election drove home that Dems were serious about the whole equality thing, rather than simply being overly generous to Others.

  41. 41.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 4:12 pm

    @karen marie: The site you link to appears to be down now for some reason, but I took a look at another version here, and what she’s essentially saying is that “the media” wanted to make it all about racism and guns and stuff — because, you know, it was — but she pushed back and wanted to “focus on the victims,” or something.

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    January 31, 2024 at 4:13 pm

    A few years ago I was sitting alone on our beach reading a book. A couple of young women came by and plopped down a blanket about 20 feet away. After a while they decided to eat lunch, and suddenly they were surrounded on all sides by about 40 seagulls who wanted to share. The women weren’t amused and promptly gathered up their stuff and left. Must happen quite often.

  43. 43.

    Lyrebird

    January 31, 2024 at 4:15 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH

    malicious

    mendacious

    obsequious

    dangerous

  44. 44.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 4:15 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: It’s a shibboleth on the right that pointing out or acknowledging racism is the real racism.

  45. 45.

    Lapassionara

    January 31, 2024 at 4:16 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: omg, she is just the worst. Just ask Dylan Roof, he would say, as I recall, that he wanted to start a race war.

  46. 46.

    jonas

    January 31, 2024 at 4:19 pm

    @Baud: “My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”

    Well, the Word of God (Romans 13:1-7) tells you to submit to earthy authority and Iowa’s government had said that the statue of Baphomet can be there, and it wasn’t hurting anything except your precious fee-fees. So STFU.

  47. 47.

    wjca

    January 31, 2024 at 4:20 pm

    @jonas: I don’t think Disney’s lawyers are so stupid as to have filed a frivolous case they should have known was just going to be summarily thrown out. I suspect we’ll learn that, like Eileen Cannon, this FL Trump judge is also not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

    Expect the 11th Circuit to be similarly caustic when it gets the case.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    January 31, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    @jonas:

    Yeah, I’m also not sure where in the Bible it says you can destroy other people’s idols. AFAIK, it just says don’t do idolatry  yourself.

  49. 49.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 31, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    @Baud:

    Wait. Didn’t the shooter basically say “I did it because I’m racist”?

    He said he was there to shoot Black people.  Nothing racist about that. //

  50. 50.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    @Dangerman: in Galveston, the men passed around a solo cup.  I was very incredulous and thought I was being ppunked by those good ole boys.  But it worked like magic, instantly.  Who knew?

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 31, 2024 at 4:25 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Too too f’n funny. I hope he enjoys his next stay there.

  52. 52.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:26 pm

    @prostratedragon: my mom had a bad case of ornithophobia from grandma asking her to collect the eggs from the chicken coop and getting mercilessly pecked.  She’d cross the street for a pigeon!  Don’t know how my fat finger block quoted this gah

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 4:27 pm

    @TBone

    “Okay, ‘fess up. Who of y’all been eating asparagus?”
    ;)

  54. 54.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:30 pm

    @Jamey: I feel like I missed out!

  55. 55.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:30 pm

    @NotMax: 😆

  56. 56.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:31 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: attention whore.

  57. 57.

    Gary K

    January 31, 2024 at 4:31 pm

    @Jamey: Could you link to that story?

  58. 58.

    C Stars

    January 31, 2024 at 4:32 pm

    My entry in the disgusting bird story category is the time when the spouse and I had just gotten huge delicious saucy kebabs avec frites from a fast food joint and were sitting on a bench some distance from the Notre Dame, super hungry after a day of walking.  Just as I took my first bite a threadbare zombie pigeon with some kind of terrible skin condition flew up and LANDED ON MY KEBAB–I was engulfed in disease-ridden pigeon wing germs–and pulled a hunk of mystery meat out with its decaying claw. What I remember most was the way the meat kind of looked like the pigeon’s skin. It was heartbreaking, but I had to throw out the sandwich.

  59. 59.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 31, 2024 at 4:32 pm

    @karen marie:

    Can you translate this for me?

    My best guess at that word salad is that she’s saying that after the shooting, she had wanted to move into the old “thoughts and prayers, too soon to politicize it” dodge, but the killer’s showing up in the Confederate flag screwed that up for her.

    The GOP has plenty of weasels to go around.

  60. 60.

    Jay

    January 31, 2024 at 4:33 pm

    Decades ago, when I worked at the tire factory, and was low on the totem pole, one of my jobs was to load dead tire casings onto our 10 ton truck. Of course, they were half full of water, so it was a miserable job. Once I had loaded the truck full to the brim, Trent, my supervisor and I would drive to the dump.

    My “protection” was a polyblend coverall, those cheap cotton gloves with leather on the wear points and a pair of rubber boots. Trent would stay in the warm truck cab and listen to the radio.

    The first time I did “the run”, when I had unloaded half the truck, Trent rolled down the window and threw out a lit M80 firecracker, then put the windshield wipers on with full spray.

    The 2 1/2 million seagulls went airborne and I got hosed with 5 minutes of “seagull rain”.

    Quite the hazing.

  61. 61.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:33 pm

    @rikyrah: you said it much better than I just did!

  62. 62.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:34 pm

    @NotMax: hahahahaha!  It was ALL BEER.  And very fresh 🤣

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    January 31, 2024 at 4:35 pm

    @ArchTeryx:
    A gorgeous bird is the pelican,
    Whose beak will hold more than his bellican.
    He can put in his beak
    Food enough for a week.
    But I’m d—- if I see how in hellecan.

    Had to.

  64. 64.

    Old School

    January 31, 2024 at 4:35 pm

    @Gary K: Here is Betty’s French Onion Soup story.

  65. 65.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 31, 2024 at 4:36 pm

    I posted this downstairs, but it deserves more air. Joe Biden is a very decent and kind man.

    WATCH: Shawn Sanders and Oneida Oliver-Sanders were in their living room Tuesday morning, less than 48 hours after learning that their 24-year-old daughter, Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, was killed in a weekend drone attack on U.S. service members in Jordan. Then President Joe Biden called.

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    January 31, 2024 at 4:38 pm

    @Jay:

    Ughhhh. :-)

    We get vast quantities of crows roosting overnight downtown and midtown in winter. If you startle them you will get the crowcrap coating and crow diets are the most basic of diets. Okay, maybe the turkey vultures at the nearby park are worse, but they don’t crap on command.

  67. 67.

    BigJimSlade

    January 31, 2024 at 4:40 pm

    Ah, a picnic on the Charles – how lovely :-) even if this one didn’t go so well. I used to take the little sailboats out for a spin there, and ride my bike or take walks along the esplanade. Thinking about it makes me smile.

  68. 68.

    Jamey

    January 31, 2024 at 4:40 pm

    @Gary K: Hopefully she will see the comment and re-share.  I can’t correctly tell the story, but she was a relatively new employee at a first business lunch.  A large wad of hard to chew mozzarella is involved.  My wife and I literally LOLed hard.

  69. 69.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 31, 2024 at 4:41 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I figured that would be by Ogden Nash, but it ran in the Tampa Trib 111 years ago, a bit before Nash’s time.  Apparently some guy named Marston or Marshton wrote it.

  70. 70.

    Old School

    January 31, 2024 at 4:42 pm

    @TBone:

    But it worked like magic, instantly.  Who knew?

    Not the doctors.  They say urine is of no benefit for jellyfish stings.

  71. 71.

    Jamey

    January 31, 2024 at 4:43 pm

    @Old School: Thank you for retrieving the story!

  72. 72.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:44 pm

    @Old School: THAT is a thing of beauty!

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K5HAwwVYk0Y

  73. 73.

    trollhattan

    January 31, 2024 at 4:46 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I too thought it was Nash. Love the Florida connection, though!

  74. 74.

    japa21

    January 31, 2024 at 4:48 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: And of course, one of the first replies is talking about it was all a publicity stunt.  And several implying Dems love war and killing, unlike the GOP led by Trump.

  75. 75.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:49 pm

    Once had dinner in the Green Room at the Hotel DuPont (pretty snooty spot).  My date ordered raw oysters.  One stuck to its shell, and in his struggle, my date FLUNG the raw oyster across the room.  It landed in a lady’s blued and piled high hairdo 🤣

  76. 76.

    UncleEbeneezer

    January 31, 2024 at 4:49 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: Wonder how Haley would explain Roof telling a Black Congregation “You rape our women and are taking over our country” right before killing them?

  77. 77.

    Jay

    January 31, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Here, we have large areas of greenspace, where the crows roost. Mostly in cottonwoods and alder.

    At sunset, millions of crows fly to these roosts along certain flight paths.

    If you are on one of these flight paths at the time, it’s quite the show.

    When I worked at the Orange, it was pretty amazing.

    Where our apartment is now, there are two birb commutes a day. Seagulls coming in from the north, the inlet at dawn, and crows coming in from their roosts in the south, the pattern is reversed at dusk. The pigeons are all local, and other than flocking in the parking lot, tend not to commute.

    When we get a raptor flying by, it is often quite the show,……..5,….4,…..3,…..2,…..1,…. as the murder of crows, stage up then launch like Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.

    About a month ago, we had a Bald Eagle take up a position on one corner of the 50 story apt building kitty corner to us. About 70 crows took up station on both sides of the corner, and took turns harassing from the air, for about 2 hours, before it flew off.

  78. 78.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 4:54 pm

    @Old School: like the tides, I can’t explain it. Can only attest to it.

  79. 79.

    Bupalos

    January 31, 2024 at 4:59 pm

    Hope this isn’t a cryptic, under-the-radar health update.

  80. 80.

    cain

    January 31, 2024 at 4:59 pm

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: I just sat down with a sammich – and started reading it and NOPE’d the fuck out of it and closed the browser.

  81. 81.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    @BigJimSlade

    Two sides of the coin.

    Dirty Water.
    Boat on the Charles.
    ;)

  82. 82.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    @Jay: Once when the Hitler Youth neighbor teen was standing 10′ feet away in my yard, expounding on some RWNJ bullshit (I had to enforce social distancing regularly and repeatedly), a YUGE red tailed hawk dive bombed but missed its quarry (a squirrel!) right next to him. His reaction was a sight to behold! All blood drained from his face, like Rump retracting from that bald eagle, only better.  He ran right home to mommy too 🤣

  83. 83.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 5:03 pm

    @NotMax: perfection.

  84. 84.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    I, too, always felt like a child or an imposter in my business dress attire when forced to attend Bar Association luncheon seminars and many other business functions by my attorney bosses.  One boss represented all the Fraternal Orders of Police for our County and 5 surrounding counties (as well as the PSEA) and let me tell you, I have some stories!  Alas, I’m sworn to silence and if I told you, I’d hafta kill ya!

  85. 85.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 31, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    And here I thought this was going to be a story of seagull poop!  Nope!  LOL!

    Also, too, GROSS!

  86. 86.

    Kay

    January 31, 2024 at 5:12 pm

    Mouton cadet! Fancy!

    I haven’t thought of that in YEARS

  87. 87.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 31, 2024 at 5:13 pm

    @TBone: No, no, no, and no.  But a bird did poop on my arm during a summer dinner in the backyard one year.

  88. 88.

    Manyakitty

    January 31, 2024 at 5:16 pm

    @jonas: he literally left a message saying he wanted to start a race war.

  89. 89.

    UncleEbeneezer

    January 31, 2024 at 5:18 pm

    But I mean, why should I even bother voting for Biden…

    The Biden administration will largely undo a Trump-era rule that boosted the rights of medical workers to refuse to perform abortions or other services that conflicted with their religious or moral beliefs.

    The final rule released Tuesday partially rescinds the Trump administration’s 2019 policy that would have stripped federal funding from health facilities that required workers to provide any service they objected to, such as abortions, contraception, gender-affirming care and sterilization.

  90. 90.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: BOOYAH!

  91. 91.

    Jackie

    January 31, 2024 at 5:27 pm

    @Baud: And didn’t she remove the confederate flag because of it?

    She isn’t giving S Carolinians much credit for having memories.

  92. 92.

    prostratedragon

    January 31, 2024 at 5:28 pm

    @NotMax:  Yes!!😆

  93. 93.

    Manyakitty

    January 31, 2024 at 5:28 pm

    @Old School: aww, there was a comment from Amir Khalid.

    Thanks for the link, I remember reading that and laughing so hard I snorted a few times, first class! Omg 🤣🤣🤣

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    January 31, 2024 at 5:29 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    He really is. I hope one of the FrontPagers sees this.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    January 31, 2024 at 5:34 pm

    Portia ♍️ McGonagal Same On 🐳 (@PortiaMcGonagal) posted at 3:24 PM on Wed, Jan 31, 2024:
    There it is Nik Nik. I knew you could do it and openly admit things. The BS from white American that it lost its sh*t because of a Black President. Of course that’s Black people’s fault for addressing the racism that is this country’s mother’s milk and how your 1/

     

    Portia ♍️ McGonagal Same On 🐳 (@PortiaMcGonagal) posted at 3:27 PM on Wed, Jan 31, 2024:
    2/2
    white adjacency seeking self wants to return to a time when we were legally and societally, second class citizens. This is the worst kept secret.
    (https://x.com/PortiaMcGonagal/status/1752805789688033691?t=ZBSPgreAnnaeUAB11dMFiQ&s=03)

  96. 96.

    karen marie

    January 31, 2024 at 5:36 pm

    @wjca:  My favorite part is where the Court claims Disney doesn’t have standing.

  97. 97.

    C Stars

    January 31, 2024 at 5:40 pm

    @TBone: Oh yes, hawks are such dramatic hunters. We were at a tot playground once when the kiddos were much younger and a hawk suddenly dive-bombed a young seagull (I think it was). It was just this huge explosion of feathers, and when they all settled the hawk was holding in its beak a larger bird with a broken neck. The whole playground was silent for a minute before about a hundred three year olds simultaneously asked their caregivers “what just happened with the birdies?”

  98. 98.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 5:40 pm

    Here’s a nice story.

    https://jamesfell.substack.com/p/the-pirate-queen-of-ireland

  99. 99.

    Baud

    January 31, 2024 at 5:40 pm

    @karen marie:

    Does Disney even exist?

  100. 100.

    karen marie

    January 31, 2024 at 5:41 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:  Yet she persisted in saying it wasn’t a racially-motivated shooting.   I’m starting to think Haley has no self-respect.

  101. 101.

    karen marie

    January 31, 2024 at 5:47 pm

    @BigJimSlade:  Amazing how many of us were there.  I lived on Beacon Hill, in Back Bay and the West Fenway from 1977 to 2000 and spent a lot of time on the esplanade until I moved to the Fenway and got a dog and a garden in the ’90s.

    I still miss it so much.  Leaving there was one of my biggest mistakes.

  102. 102.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    January 31, 2024 at 5:48 pm

    I’ve been gagging because my dad has takrn to calling me a Marxist lately, despite frequent protestations that I never read Marx. Though, I understand Groucho was considered a luminary in his time.

  103. 103.

    prostratedragon

    January 31, 2024 at 5:51 pm

    Trio in E-flat II-Andante, Schubert; Serkin et al.?
    The theme recapitulates in the last movement.

  104. 104.

    Josie

    January 31, 2024 at 5:53 pm

    @C Stars: ​
     I may have told this story before, but I can’t resist a repeat. After retirement, I worked at a bird sanctuary as a teacher for 3rd graders on the wonders of nature in general and the bird world specifically. I had just seated the kids in the open air theatre we used to point out nature and its many interactions when a flock of sparrows flew in to enjoy the pond in front of us. We were engaged in learning how to use their binoculars when suddenly a cooper’s hawk plunged into the middle of the sparrows. Feathers and bird flew everywhere, and the hawk lifted off with one very unlucky sparrow in his talons. We all sat there transfixed while I groped for something positive to say. Finally I assured them that the sparrow did not suffer and that we had just witnessed nature at its most natural. As they thought over this information, the sparrows drifted back down and continued to enjoy the pond as if nothing had happened. I was really grateful to them for that.

  105. 105.

    C Stars

    January 31, 2024 at 6:04 pm

    @Josie: I love that story. And good save on your first day! Raptors are both terrifying and spectacular.

  106. 106.

    Betty Cracker

    January 31, 2024 at 6:05 pm

    @Jay: We have a ringside seat to a twice-daily birb commute from roughly mid-January through March. Just after sunrise, thousands of ibises fly west along the river. Around sunset, they retrace the route flying east. Almost like they’re punching a clock somewhere!

  107. 107.

    UncleEbeneezer

    January 31, 2024 at 6:08 pm

    @TBone:
    One boss represented all the Fraternal Orders of Police for our County and 5 surrounding counties (as well as the PSEA) and let me tell you, I have some stories!

    Ugh what a horrible client to have to represent.  Might as well represent Nazis…but I repeat myself

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 6:12 pm

    @Betty Cracker

    Did someone say punching a clock? Sam & Ralph.
    :)

  109. 109.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:16 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: thoughts and prayers and I mean that not in the lame way it’s become.

  110. 110.

    Jay

    January 31, 2024 at 6:17 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Worms have a schedule, so do early birbs.

    Plus their Manager takes note if they are late, leave early, or take too many sick days.

    You don’t want to get fired, because for Birb’s, there are not that many opportunities for a career change.

  111. 111.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    January 31, 2024 at 6:20 pm

    @TBone: Seems appropriate. I suppose I should read Capital. If I agree with this Marx guy without having read him, he must be right on the ball.

    Then I’ll thank my dad for the suggestion.

  112. 112.

    JPL

    January 31, 2024 at 6:22 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: So Kamala through osmosis will rule the country like Obama, or is she saying that all blacks look a like.   I’m confused.   At least trump is open about who he is.

  113. 113.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:25 pm

    @UncleEbeneezer: you’d think, but there were a lot of opportunities for me to slide in one-liners that they didn’t catch. Picking up the phone saying “Hey Chief!” and stuff like that (that guy shouldn’t have been chief of a Dunkin Donuts). A lot of them knew my Dad (former cop and A#1 good apple). There were also a few really good cops (plus the attorney was a fine fellow, we were representing the PA Education Assn., the teachers’ union) at the same time) and he was a labor lawyer extraordinaire. He was also the best criminal defense attorney EVAH. I learned a LOT about labor relations.  So many stories I can’t tell because of attorney client privilege that I honor.  I used to wear my fishing ball cap a lot to cut down overhead glare from life-draining fluorescent lights.  It has pictures of tied flies and says “Bite me, Pennsylvania.” Funny story about my dad. I was about 7 years old, family gathered in front of TV on Thanksgiving.  Dad was being interviewed on the news!  About how it felt to hafta work on Turkey Day. He was sitting in his squad car in front of a DONUT SHOP like Chief Wiggum! 😆

  114. 114.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:26 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: atta boy!  Or girl, as the case may be!

  115. 115.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    January 31, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    @TBone: atta boy! Or girl, as the case may be!

    Eh, I don’t jive with that boy/girl shit. Just an excuse to split people up and create double standards.

    If it makes you more comfortable, people would typically perceive and refer to me as male.

  116. 116.

    Ohio Mom

    January 31, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: Here is the cartoon version of Marx’s Communist Manifesto;

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUl4yfABE4

    Eight delightful minutes long.

    Watching it always reminds me of the yokel’s response to Shakespeare: I don’t see what the big deal is, all he did was string famous quotes together.

  117. 117.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:39 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I just didn’t want to be exclusionary!

  118. 118.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    January 31, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    @TBone: Haha, I know. And I was, at least a little bit, being a pain in the ass.

    @Ohio Mom: Thanks. I’ll watch while ai wait for my friend outside his job.

  119. 119.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    @Ohio Mom: on that note, but a lot longer:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yntowpo8htY

  120. 120.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 6:53 pm

    Deleted.  Sometimes my tail goes all bottle-brush.

    https://archive.org/details/rikkitikkitavi_201701

  121. 121.

    NotMax

    January 31, 2024 at 7:32 pm

    @TBone

    “Boom! Boom!”
    – Basil Brush
    ;)

  122. 122.

    KSinMA

    January 31, 2024 at 7:33 pm

    @rikyrah: Cosign

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    January 31, 2024 at 7:37 pm

    @lowtechcyclist:

    There is NO ‘good’ GOP candidate for anything. FIXITFY

  124. 124.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 7:42 pm

    @NotMax: and here I thought it was gonna be Pat Travers 😆

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_zym_OJTc

    AND on that same note, local hilarity ensues!

    https://www.wonkette.com/p/the-positively-true-story-of-the

  125. 125.

    prostratedragon

    January 31, 2024 at 7:45 pm

    5pm @ Jacob Riis Beach.

  126. 126.

    TBone

    January 31, 2024 at 7:46 pm

    @prostratedragon: need a ‘splainer

  127. 127.

    JustRuss

    January 31, 2024 at 8:11 pm

    I’m sure I speak for the whole class when I say that I cannot wait for the Betty Cracker biopic.

  128. 128.

    prostratedragon

    January 31, 2024 at 8:12 pm

    @TBone:  Gulls lined up on the boardwalk rail like in The Birds. Beachgoers rising casually but as one to leave.

  129. 129.

    Dan B

    January 31, 2024 at 8:49 pm

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: I was surprised in Econ 101 lecture hall with 400 students half of the first quarter was about Marx, an economist – Karl Marx.

  130. 130.

    Gvg

    January 31, 2024 at 10:44 pm

    Can I offer the gross story of dogs in elk? 
    https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/qjrm58/when_company_is_coming_and_your_dogs_wont_come/

    ultimate to me of gross humor.

    I did have a bird manage to poop on me while I was walking back to work after a flat tire. Not a good evening.

  131. 131.

    Ramalama

    February 1, 2024 at 6:02 am

    @karen marie: don’t Fock with birds from glosta is all one can say….I lived in magnolia and the gulls at the tiny beach were polite tourists in comparison.

  132. 132.

    TBone

    February 1, 2024 at 6:13 am

    @prostratedragon: aha!

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