A visit to Cal State East Bay's taxidermy collection

Aware of my obsession with all things avian, a good friend allowed me access to Cal State East Bay's taxidermy collection. Many of their songbird specimens are ravaged by time and infestation, but there are a few intact, sketchable specimens like this seagull, in an especially life-like posture.

Then there's the Common Raven, never more, in a much less animated pose.  

David Sedaris, humorist, author and frequent contributor to PRI's This American Life and The New Yorker magazine relates his experience buying a Valentine's Day gift at a London taxidermy shop -- my kinda guy. (see link below)

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/understanding-owls?currentPage=all

Eye number three . . .

The much maligned seagull.

During a recent Giants game, scores of seagulls began swooping over the field in the middle innings, releasing their ordnance from above. Usually a baseball fan tries to catch any falling object that comes his way, but this was not one of those times. Most nights there are at least 500 gulls in the left-field bleachers alone.

After the game, in a matter of minutes, gulls rip through every discarded food scrap. Fans have suggestions about what to do: umbrella hats, owl statues, hawk statues, hawk calls over the loudspeaker, bobblehead hawks, a platoon of shot gunners in boats on McCovey Cove. One kid said everyone should bring a Super Soaker and fire at will.

"Without the seagulls," said one of the many custodians, "there would be no seagull poop. And without that, there would be a lot less of us."
Thanks to Steve Rubenstein, SF Chronicle