Gulls over the Louvre Carrousel

Today's outing was to the Louvre with Gregory--first the Islamic galleries, and then the Grande Galerie after lunch. As we headed to lunch, making the right-angled turn in the Carrousel du Louvre, Gregory spotted these gulls on the small pyramid above us. I had never seen or noticed any there before; they are certainly all Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus), which are by far the commonest around the Seine in winter.

Edit: I can't resist adding an email quip from David, my ornithologist friend: "A tour guide on a boat in San Francisco Bay ... asked the tourists to identify some birds. When the tourists responded with the predictable "sea-gull," the guide said, "No, these are bay-gulls." Well, now you have Pei-gulls. "

It was my second visit to the Louvre's brand-new Islamic galleries; they were again superb. Gregory was dazzled, saying they are the best he's seen. As a London-based artist and inveterate museum goer, he knows whereof he speaks.