Gulls, Gulls, the Winter Treat

We're quite a ways inland, as the crow flies (that's about 150 miles at closest, maties).  But every winter, we enjoy an invasion of gulls.  The ones I most often see are these guys--Ring Billed Gulls--which are up far to the north in summer.  It is also possible to find Bonapartes and Herring Gulls, and even less often Lesser Black Backs, but I can't prove more than the Herrings in person. 

Long, long ago we wouldn't have seen so many inland.  But the Ring Billeds at least do very well with the swelling metro areas.  After all we provide so many manmade lakes (all flood control reservoirs) and interesting food sources, such as my local Bojangles Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits.  And yes, the parking lot at the "BOJ" is routinely packed with these gulls!   So the word has gotten out in the gull community.  And they are everywhere.  Any pond or lake worth its name will host hundreds of birds.  This photo was taken at Lake Crabtree near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, and the northeast bay near the dam looked like a sea of white:  not whitecaps:  Gulls.

Some folks view gulls of any sort as rats with wings.  I can't go there myself.  There's something about a gull colony that's equal parts attractiveness, challenge (to identify them) and humor.  They're no messier than any group of dozens of birds would be.  And if we don't really mind bird ranges slowly changing with respect to, say, Rufous Hummingbirds or Eurasian Collared Doves, we can just as much appreciate the growing presence of gulls in our Piedmont winters.  So, gulls, make us proud.  And watch the guano, okay?