The yawn

It was a sleepy afternoon on Oyster Bay; hot sunshine, warmed rocks, no wind, nothing happening. A lone gull stood on a rock, watching the wavelets inch up the slope.

Sun on his back.

Sun on his feet.

Sun on his breast.

Yawn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Era una tarde soñolienta en Oyster Bay. Sol brillante, rocas recalentadas, nada de viento, nada pasaba. Una gaviota solitaria se asoleaba en las rocas, mirando las onditas que avanzaban y retrodecían en la playa.

1. Tostándose la espalda.
2. Ahora los pies.
3. Y la pechuga.
4. Un gran bostezo.

Kitty loves snow

I'm cat-sitting. My landlord's teen-age (on a cat schedule) kitten will be staying here for a week. And it's snowing outside. So she comes in, climbs on me, shakes off the snow onto my face, goes to eat a bit, then cuddles up in my best chair until she's dry. Then she asks to be let out again to play in the wonderful snow.

Meet Corsa. Long-haired and fluffy; a perfect coat for snowy weather.

"What big teeth you have!"

At least Chia prefers the rain to the snow. She's staying warm and dry. And keeps her tail tucked in because Corsa attacks it if it dangles.

The mystery of the yawning gull

A long log reached from above the high tide line on the White Rock beach, and far into the water. Gulls came and went on the wet end; I sat on the dry end, with Laurie beside me on another log.

Four of the gulls stayed, but they bunched up down at the far end.

Tallying them up: 4 brown heads, 3 brown gulls, one white and grey. 3 black bills, one yellow bill with a black spot. Pinkish legs, as far as I can see. (This is important, really.)

Bills: black, black, yellow, black (not visible, but trust me; it's black).

And then one yawned. First, I was surprised by how far he opened his beak. The bottom half is almost vertical, as if it were about to fall off.

But what is that red thing, just behind the beak? Here, I'll zoom in:

Only 3 heads are visible, but there were still 4 tails; all 4 gulls are there. But the red bit is between the second and the third gull. I thought it just might be a foot (up there?), but it's too red.

Or is it? Is that final foot red, or brown?

What do you think?