Feb. 19, 2017 - A Willet and a Gull

Here’s a short picture story of life on a Gulf of Mexico beach. We are staying on St. George Island in northern Florida again this winter. A Willet is a pretty common sight here, chasing the waves and picking up food items washed up on the shore. I stopped to watch this one, however, because it was digging a hole in the sand and I wanted to see what it was trying to get.

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I thought the Willet and I were the only ones on the beach but suddenly, this Ring-billed Gull arrived on the scene.

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The Willet had a pretty deep hole by this time. The gull must have sensed something was down there so it chased the Willet away.

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The gull called a few times as if to say “this is my hole now!” The gull tried digging but it has a much shorter bill than the Willet so it couldn’t make any progress.

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The Willet came back, dug some more, and the gull chased it away again. Ultimately, the gull ended up with the prize. I think it is a Mole Crab. From a human perspective, this seems unfair. The Willet did all the work and the gull essentially stole the crab. But that’s the way it often works in the world of nature.

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