The Seagulls by the Ferry

We were on the ferry, my aunt and I, leaving Bolivar and heading to Galveston. We saw a flock of seagulls--and we raaaaaannn, we ran so far away--well, not really cos we were on the ferry, yeah? Sorry about that digressions, but I had to make a reference to my teen years during the 80s, didn't I?

So, back to the seagulls. They were flying in their commonly accepted form--a "V." I thought it was so pretty to see it in real life, so I pointed it out to my aunt. Just as she turned around, the birds left their usual formation and began a different one which I'd never seen--or heard of--before. They began flying in a circle! They stayed in that new formation for as long as I looked at them. I thought it was the coolest!

As usual, my aunt knew what was going on up there in the air. The birds were circling because food was nearby. If they stayed in the circular "holding" pattern, they could swoop down and bag a fish when it was convenience. There was an odd looking ship which I'll call a "dredging" ship for lack of a better name. Turns out the channel gets too much dirt in it, sometimes, and on a fairly regular basis, this Dredging Ship has to journey over to the place where the ferry crosses and dredge up the dirt, place it atop itself, and--when it is finished dredging--carry it to a different location, such as the beach. If they don't do this dredging, then the big ships which come from Portugal and Denmark and Japan can't get through to the docking place to get rid of their cargo.

The bird--when this occurs--know a good thing when they see it, so they circle the wagons and get them some grub! It was really a neat thing to see.

Another cool seagull dealio. As we chugged along back to Galveston on the ferry, the birds began flying right next to the ferry--way up there at the top. What was really amazing is that these birds knew enough to use the current which came off the ship to help them fly. At one point--when I took a picture--there were probably 8 to 10 birds flying along evenly progressing along with us at the same speed we were--not flapping their wings at all! They were using the force of the wind coming off of the ferry. I can't think of another couple of words to describe it, except for "COOL." sorry for the lameness them, but it works.

Thanks for reading, y'all! Now it is off to bed!