Snapshot: Shiny (Non-Alive) Fish

Sunday morning. Early for a Sunday morning, which is to say not that early. Maybe 8 a.m. A crowd of gulls and terns stood along this sandy Delaware beach. When my friend and I walked past they took off, as expected, and returned to what seemed to be the main activity of the morning: fishing. We watched them hover and splash.

A raptor that I think was a bald eagle flew off over the land, pursued by a smaller bird. An osprey crossed over. A tern careened in circles with a prize in its mouth as another chased after it, screeching.

On our return walk, we found the above picture: what they were fishing, I assume. A perfect silvery iridescent specimen, half-eaten, although I assume someone took care of the other half before long. Predation at work, the species living out their drama within sight of the crystal-palace vacation homes that line the Delaware shore, the birds continuing to make a living; the fish meeting their ends.

Photo: Helen Fields, obviously