Last weekend found me once again in Pensacola Florida, and while making my obligatory stop at the world famous Joe Patti Seafood, I decided to sneak around the side and back of the waterfront establishment and check out their fine fleet of fishing & shrimp boats dockside. That's always a great sight and a photographic adventure as well. While approaching a pier post, I noticed this "Laughing Gull" perched topside waiting for a lost shrimp or fish as the boats were unloading. These scavenger birds are abundant along the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Usually not too far from the coastline, they take full advantage of human habitat modifications, foraging in parking lots and dumps, and breeding on dredge spoil islands. So much for romantic locations! But the smarter ones frequent the many bay/sound side seafood harvesting establishments so prevalent along the intercoastal waterways along the Gulf Coast. That's what our friend here was up to when suddenly his prime location was threatened by the approach of an intruding out-of-towner (A.K.A. tourist) dumb ass photographer (that would be your humble storyteller). Birds aren't supposed to possess the talent of facial expression, but this guy clearly looked pissed as I crept closer and closer to get my shot. Finally, in absolute total disgust he gently glided over to the next post, five feet away. So I backed off. That's their real name too - Laughing Gull. Their upscale cousins, the Sea Gulls, look down upon them. The Sea Gulls are bigger, and poses a more sleek aerodynamic design. But these guys have an "F-You" attitude that makes them a more working class kind of bird. If I were one of them, I'd hang out at Joe Patti's Seafood too! marshall