Seagulls and sleep deprivation

 

On the first walk of the day a plaintive look from a dog standing outside a house.

The dog makes it quite clear where she lives and that she wants to get back in. We ring the doorbell. Seems she was put out in the garden ten minutes ago and found a gap in the 'secure' fence. There is an emotional  reunion. This is a textbook example of inter-species non-verbal communication. None of our dogs would have stood at a door in stoic silence. PON's do not tend to silence.

The small seagull in the communal garden now has a plastic bowl of water to drink from.

Two particularly amorous pigeons chirrup away happily on our garden wall. Presumably, this is, or is about to be,  peak pigeon mating time. 

The three young gulls nesting on our neighbours kitchen roof continue to flap their wings in an excited ' Mom look what I found' sort of way. They also maintain their habit of rising early . This morning they voice their need for food at an unearthly 3:39. Sleep deprivation and seagull chicks go together. 'The Font' displays an admirable but incomprehensible ability to sleep through the pre-dawn chorus. Angus is now in the habit of taking a restorative post lunch 'napette'.  Surely, today must be the day when they take wing. I'd have to say that the chicks parents are extremely diligent. Father spends literally all his time either hunting for food or nesting on top of chimney pot where he can keep an eye on them. Mother seems to have a 24/7 job feeding them.

'Press on'. A very determined epitaph on this grave marker for two long lived sisters . Husbands and children get no look in.

So starts a Wednesday morning in a small town where, on the surface, nothing ever happens. Soon we shall be getting in the car and driving off to welcome back the builders. Here's an interesting, and very St.Andrews, fact of the day. Covid and working from home has caused a massive boom in golf. There nearly three times ( 278%) more folks playing golf on a mid-week afternoon than there were pre-Covid.

Map of the day. 77% of Scotlands night time skies remain unpolluted by light. In England it's 22% :https://www.nightblight.cpre.org.uk/maps/