A strange occasion at the beach.

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What was this gull eating?
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So I moved in to inspect the object that he was eating.

I am showing you the truth of life here today, not to shock you, but only to show you the effectiveness of nature.
Nothing goes to waste and everything serves a purpose in nature's food chain. Sadly I cannot say this of mankind.
When will we ever learn?

Oh my, It was a small Ray and either the sharp rocks got him in the storm, or a careless fishermen caught him and cast him aside.
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I flipped him over and yes, he was a real little beauty.
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I think this Pied Kingfisher was also hovering above hoping to get a bite.
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So, I moved a distance away, as I knew that the gull would return to his score.
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Ever so daintily he approached the little ray.
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Inspected it to see if perhaps I put something weird like poison on it.
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And then it was eating time again.
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This was how we left him and we wandered away to see what else was up.
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Happily I got many other shots, but I liked this one that shows the 3 Terns in the lead of this gull squadron.
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Oh yes, at times things seem cruel to us, especially after seeing a gull eating a small Ray, but I think that it is better than to see a little Ray decomposing and rotting on the beach. Mother nature has the habit of keeping herself clean and it was a brainwave in design to keep all of her residents healthy and fed.

Mankind on the other hand has chosen the opposite direction by manufacturing food that creates billions of tons of waste that nobody can eat. To boot, the packaging of this food is poison and the energy to manufacture the food poisons the skies.
In my mind, the very old system of everyone growing their own food was always the answer, but the love of comfort will never allow this.
Something to think about here.

Ps. My mom said that one day all of our food will come in pill form. A scary thought, but I think that she was correct.

And That's All Friends!

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting a post on behalf of @papilloncharity

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70 comments
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Mother nature has the habit of keeping herself clean and it was a brainwave in design to keep all of her residents healthy and fed.

A very nice thing to say. This is the ecosystem of nature. In a very beautiful way you have photographed the food scene of this bird.

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The brainwave was not really a brainwave, as it was the supreme wisdom of our God my friend.
No man can ever design such an intricate failure proof system.

Thank you for the compliment.

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So sad the dude is gone but it is a meal for another creature.

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Thank you and yes it is the perfect design of the eco system by our mighty God.

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Gull waiting for the water to clean the sand off after rolling it around, gourmet bits laying there will not last long!

Lovely captures on an early walk down today Stephen!

Food for thought, I don't think we will be here long enough to eat a pill, in time it may come true.

!LUV
!BEER
!PIZZA

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Very clever those Gulls are Lady Joan, they use the sea in amazing ways and I even have them on camera dropping shells from high up on the rocks in order to crack them open.

Between you and me, I will be happy to leave this planet and you are right, it will happen in the future when all of us are no longer around.

#WINEX
#LOLZ
#LUV

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Some birds even have a favourite rock to break open food by what I understand, yes the are clever!

Have a wonderful day Summer Solstice we will be 30 deg C to 21 deg C with promise of lightning storms tonight to give us a thundering start into the next cycle.

!BEER
!PIZZA

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Yes, very clever birds and a friend told me how he saw a gull methodically finishing off a big crab.

We are 28 C to 19C and one of the reasons why we battle to sleep at night. Some days I sit and work until 1 am in the mornings, just to tire myself out completely. Then I am over tired and it takes 2 hours to fall asleep and up again at 6am.

!PIZZA
!BEER

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Nothing goes to waste on the beach, dead fish, crab all cleaned up.

Cloudy here so we never enjoyed the true solstice or moon, promise of rain on Christmas day more in the afternoon, kitchen duties in the morning may have to plan a midday lunch with family before rains arrive in the afternoon.

Most days I will be online from around eight to six, then I do other chores around the home in the evening normally turn in around midnight.

Cooler in the evenings to get anything done, turn the clock around somewhat 😉

!ONEUP

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Oh yes, I read today that KZN has received a new warning about bad weather heading your way.

Same here with the clouds, but thankfully we have a cool wind blowing. Our problem is the pollen here as we are sneezing ourselves silly. But they say that eventually our bodies will acclimatize to the conditions.

We will have a simple lunch for the two of us on Christmas day and I will go and take some photos somewhere. Nothing planned.

I agree as the cooler parts of the day is the best to get things done.

I still do not have Oneup or tipu, but sometime I will look into it.

!LUV

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Lovely cool weather, will have a little sun peek out tomorrow according to the weather app, my family with sister in law to enjoy a lunch together.

We don't do decorations, we do enjoy having quiet family gathering, I will cook and prepare my sister in law brings along the fruit cake and ice cream to enjoy. All adults nothing special planned the dogs will get a couple of treats and play together in the garden.

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Sounds exactly like us, less the family of course. For the last 20 Christmases it was only the 2 of us and little Troy. Oh and our squirrel family of course.
No fanfare, no gifts, no decorations just an ordinary day.

Peace to all of you for tomorrow.

!BEER

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I cook for 6 a delicious meal to enjoy outdoors, comfortable 24°C max today with mix of cloud and sunshine. Will have Cheeky bomb diving in disgust with his territory being disturbed, Woody and Sarge can run the garden together.

Enjoy your peaceful Christmas!

!LUV

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Sounds delightful especially with the weather and hope that everyone enjoyed the eats.

Yes, ours was a peaceful and quiet day here at home and I have only done one post for the day.
No need for stresses, as there is enough tomorrow's for worries.

!LUV also to all of you.

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Had a delightful lunch under the tree in 25°C birds singing and dogs playing in the garden turned into a lovely family get together.

!LUV

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It sounds ideal to me and glad that you had some time to relax and to be happy.
We live in dark days and every opportunity like this, should be grabbed with both hands.
Glad for you my friend.

!LUV

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Morning cooking, afternoon of chin wagging and laughter, evening kaput put the feet up and chilled 😉 all in all a good day thanks.

!LOLZ

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(Edited)

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Please vote for pizza.witness!

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A beauty indeed. RIP lil ray. I love the sea and walking the beach for unique findings. It's always a treasure hunt for me :).

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Thank you Anna and yes a stroll on the beach is always an adventure.
We have abandoned it now as it is packed with annual holidayers, but as soon as the holiday season is over in January, we will be back there at least once every week.

Have some !PIZZA

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Understand, once it gets crowded it's not as enjoyable. I enjoy nature most by myself or with like minded people. Have a Merry Christmas Zac, you and your loved ones!

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Thank you for understanding and I have a very limited time with others outs out there on rare occasions. My camera is my best company.

May you and yours also have a Merry Christmas my friend.

Ps. I know your name, but if we are like minded in my book, then we are friends 😀

!BEER

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I think the first picture would be perfect for the next contest :) ...

Poor little ray, I hope he didn't suffer!

Pill form food? Not for me! I feel like there could be a happy compromise in letting even big cities have areas to produce vegetables, perhaps on rooftops. And of course encourage local farmers to continue. We really don't need all of that shipping. There has always been trade between those who want to produce food, and those who don't. We don't need every human becoming a farmer?

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL

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You are always welcome my friend.

Oh yes, we can only hope that it was an instant death.

No pill, not in our lifetime but to come I believe. All plants need oxygen and the way that we are going, oxygen is going to become scarce in the atmosphere. Some scientists reckon that if we continue to pump the poisonous gasses into the air, that there will be no hope in the near future.
I can see a time when people will live in thick glass domes to protect them from natures anger.

One never knows what the future holds.

!BEER !PIZZA !LOL

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Actually plants need and lock up carbon dioxide. They give us oxygen. So having more of them would be a great help in preventing such a bleak future ❤️

!PIZZA !ALIVE !LOL

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Now you know that I forgot this and I got it the other way around. Of course plant releases oxygen and that's why we have a few "Spekbooms" here in our garden, as they are reputed to be the best oxygen releasing plants over here.

Yes, more plants and a restoration of the forests will go a long way in helping the situation.

!LOL !PIZZA !BEER

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We all forget things :) ....

I do hope we are smart enough to turn our mistakes around!

!PIZZA !ALIVE

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Time is of the essence to turn around and Mother nature is busy forcing us to change our destructive ways.

!BEER !PIZZA

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Yes, Zac, nothing is wasted in nature, Mother Nature takes care of everything and of all of her children. She still takes care of us humans too, but she is also showing us that she is angry, very angry.

Lovely photos as always, my friend, and as long as I don't smell what' I see on the computer monitor, I don't mind seeing the little Ray.

!BEER and !WINE - both make a nice dinner with !PIZZA :)
!invest_vote

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I think that we are singing the same song about Mother nature's anger Hannes.
A power that can obliterate many lives on this planet. Mankind is know for ignoring warnings in their strive for profits, but it is that very same profits that will turn upon all of us with a very serious bite.

Thank you and no smell as that ray was fresh my friend.

Cheers and thanks.

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Right, we all will suffer and not only the ones who are guilty.

To be honest, I even don't like to smell fresh fish - a fish market is a place I would only go if I had to 😂 !LOLZ

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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So true but then again it is said that the innocent will always suffer. Remember that the sun shines on both the good and the bad.

Marian is the same and she leaves me to go in alone into the fish market. I am lucky as my nose was broken when I was young and even though a doctor opened it with a hammer and a chisel (God's truth), he didn't succeed completely, so I still have a poor sense of smell 🤣 !Lol

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, and the rain makes bot wet and the sun will dry both again 😀

I loved it when I had Covid and couldn't smell anything - going to the toilet in the office became suddenly fun 🤣 !LOLZ

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Wow! I cannot find a way to argue against this great observation of yours 🤣
I can only imagine what fun you had with that loss of smell Hannes.
A new world was opened up to you, almost like a blind man that suddenly can see 🤣 !LOLZ

Cheers and thanks.

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Hahaha you're so right 😂 !LOLZ

Cheers with !PIZZA and !BEER
!invest_vote

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This event shows us the dialectics of the nature. Everything serves a purpose and exists with their oppositeness.

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My last big project of the year was in Cape Town harbor where we were working on the HVAC on a ship. One of those same gulls flew in, right before my eyes, in the midst of a constructions site (people were more than 10m away) and this guy dumps a big live crab on the concrete.

The crab stood up, claws in the air, doing its best to fight, but that gull methodically took him to pieces and within minutes the crab was limbless and nothing more than an empty shell. I had been waiting at a gate and had my phone to my ear and all this was happening while I was talking to someone about work-related stuff.

I managed to snap up the end bit of it on my phone.

Was pretty awesome seeing a bit of random nature on site though. Never too far away...

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Must have been a great event to see my friend. I would have put the call on hold and taken many shots.

We visited the waterfront and two guys sat down with packets of chips at a wooden table below us. Two gulls flew in and landed near the the guys on the table. The guys chased the gulls away.
So the one guy took his cap off and the one gull returned to sit slap bang on his bald head.

The guy swore and slapped at the gull so the gull scattered and the two guys took their chips and walked away to find a place that is gull proof.
I got all of this on camera and posted it here on hive maybe 2 years ago.

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Excellent photos all of the activity that you found on the beach!

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