Gulls at sunset

Sandside, Cumbria
Every evening large numbers of gulls move down the Kent estuary towards Morecambe Bay where perhaps they roost far out on the water and mudflats. They stop over on the mudbanks before moving on again. Today they were clustered on the far side of the estuary opposite the Sandside prom, while others were flying past against the setting sun. There are gulls on the estuary during the day, but not in these numbers. I suspect these are birds that have spent the day further up the Kent valley in Kendal and beyond.

In my rush to post my blip before going out on Saturday, I didn't have time to relate the strangest thing that happened that day. We were dog-sitting Rowan, and Wifie's old friend Gail was staying with us (strange things happen when she's around, ask her daughter who's a blipper chess). We went for a walk over the hill of Arnside Knott. Rowan ran up to two men who were about 50 metres off the main footpath. He helped himself to something that was in one of their bags. It appeared to be a tissue with something red on it. As Wifie rushed up apologising, she saw that one of the men was on the ground slumped against the root plate of a fallen tree, apparently covered in blood. She started offering her help as a first aider. The standing man said don't worry it's fake blood. He had a camera and a tripod, and was taking photos of the second man who was inertly playing the role of a dead cowboy.

After my experience last week, blipped as "I am not alone...", I wondered again if here was another blipper at work. Did anyone see blips of a supposedly shot cowboy on Saturday night? If not, there is a photo posted here. Another new record for the Knott. Perhaps it is symbolic of the demise of the one star bandit?

View large to see the gulls to best effect, but don't stare at the sun.