There was a huge crowd of birds at the beach last week when I went. Most of the birds were laughing gulls (Leucophaeus articilla), but there were quite a few winter visitors, too. There was quite a lot of noise and squawking, but the birds were for the most part pretty peaceful. In fact, many of them were sound asleep!

There were also some that were wandering around on the beach. Some were looking for tidbits to eat, but some, like this young laughing gull, seemed to just be enjoying a leisurely walk. It wandered by me a couple of times on its way back and forth between two smaller groups of young birds. I was very impressed with how nonchalant the bird was, even among all those others. I wish I could be that confident in a crowd!