Tribute to a bird

We were on the dock near our boat when the seagulls in flight began grouping up, flying in line. I don't recall which day. We saw it start on a quiet day; so I have attributed it to mid-day on a Saturday or Sunday when dock workers were not present. A few birds slowly lifted in flight above the boat yard, and began slowly around, forming a large circle. Lower first, then somewhat higher as more birds joined the slowly expanding ring.

We could plainly see above us seagulls began to rotate in a large ring. First a few, in an unclear, fragmented move, then more and the circle became clear|, so in a short time as we watched, what seemed to be every seagull, and perhaps a few other birds beyond our harbor area North of the golden gate, were in flight over our harbor.

One or two birds cried out as they circled. Leaders, callers, to announce to the stragglers, it was time to begin, a cry to all. Plainly we could see the grandeur in their apparent solemn, deliberate, slow circling. The ring of birds unfolded before our eyes as we watched. Surely the event was planned. It took fifteen or twenty minutes in the entirety, a grand ring of slow flying birds low overhead. We knew it was a salute, an apparent, silent, in flight, dramatic tribute. When the birds had gathered, all circled ten minutes or so in stately grace, then they one by one broke off from the pattern, and it ended quietly as it had begun.

Over the years we've mentioned that day occasionally, and never can fully explain how dramatic it was. For us there never was a doubt about that occasion, what we had witnessed. It surely was a procession in the sky, a tribute for one of their admired...an honor funeral for a seagull.



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