Don't look now....you're being watched

As the sun was shining this morning I decided to go out for a good long walk to help clear the migraine headache that I have as I wanted to do some writing today.

Although it looked spring like, I put on my hat because there was quite a stiff breeze and as soon as I was outside I knew I had done the right thing.

I set off in the usual direction towards Castle Park and then decided to make a small detour and cross the canal then make my way towards the floating harbour. This would mean that I could avoid most of the city traffic and it would also give me the opportunity to be a bit nosey and look at the building work that was taking place where the old Courage brewery had stood.

Further on, I crossed over Bristol Bridge then walked towards the floating harbour. Along where the boats are moored there are quite a lot of swans and a great many seagulls and I like to stand and watch them doing what swans and seagulls do!

I stood by the railings at the edge of the water watching the birds, many were taking a mid-morning bath and preening their feathers with great gusto, then I became aware that the seagulls that were perched on the railings beside me appeared to be closer than when I stood there a few minutes before. At first I thought it was me because after all, birds usually avoid being too close to humans, but each time I looked at them they were standing quite still and looking straight ahead.

Then, as I stood watching those on the water once more, I became aware that someone or something was watching me very closely. I turned my head slightly and once more the seagulls were looking straight ahead, but again they seemed to be getting closer. I looked around me but there were very few people about and those that were, seemed to be briskly walking to wherever they were going. This sequence happened a couple more times and then I was absolutely sure that the birds had moved a lot closer. So there we stood, but now they were watching me very intently, so I watched them back and we had a short staring match!

The only explanation I could think of was that they expected me to pull out a bag of breadcrumbs because that's what most people bring with them when they come to watch the swans. Just in case they felt like mobbing me to find out if I did have any food, I decided to leave them to it and came away. Next time, I'll go out with a bag of crumbs!