A Boston Harbor Herring Gull...and a Barking Crab...

A Boston Harbor Herring Gull from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

We came to Boston for history, staying in the North End and walking the Freedom Trail, but Matty loves seafood, so when he remembered Adam Richman (from Man v. Food) had eaten at the Barking Crab in Boston, we had to make it a destination.

The Barking Crab off Boston Harbor at Fort Point Landing--it hugs the water and has lots of personality. We had such a good time there--the waitress was fun, the people around us were fun...everything about it was a party.

...Matty standing outside the Crab. He loves old buildings, dives, and seafood...plus, of course, Adam Richman ate there, so this place was perfect!

...the Barking Crab was easy to get to by water taxi (we used Rowe's Water Taxis to and from the airport and around the harbor...very easy). After eating, we walked back to our hotel sticking to the harbor walk. Along the way we stopped at the Blues Barge to listen to live music (so cool). After that we saw the Herring Gull on the old piers and sat down next to him for a video..it was a perfect evening!

The Barking Crab in Boston from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

...Matty tasting some of the fare at the Barking Crab. (I took this video with my iPhone...it's a great little camera too!)

Red-breasted Mergansers and gulls--and a huge splashfest on Lake Erie...

...continued from yesterday's Red-breasted Merganser post.

Later in the morning we drove a little further west on Lake Erie to try another section of the lake. Dave had heard all three scoters had been sighted, and we were hoping for a glimpse. We didn't see the scoters, but we did see something amazing to me--thousands of gulls (mostly Herring and Ring-billed and even a few Great Black-backed Gulls too) were swarming around a huge raft of Red-breasted Mergansers. I'm sure this is a common sight for Lake Erie dwellers, but it was a first for me.

A group of Red-breasted Mergansers floating on the water surrounded by endless numbers of gulls.

Red-breasted Mergansers are fish-eating diving ducks, and this is the reason the gulls swarm around them. As a merganser surfaces with a fish in his bill, a gull is often there to help himself to the merganser's dinner. Mergansers are often called "sawbills" because their bills are serrated and resemble a saw. These sharp little edges help the merganser hold onto slippery fish, but even the serration is no match for a hungry Herring or Ring-billed Gull who can pluck the fish right out of the merganser's bill--pesky little fish thieves!

Icicles forming along the rocks and hanging from branches as the waves crashed up against the shore.

You would never know how cold it was in this photo...looks like a warm, summer day at the beach...

The Herring and Ring-billed Gulls were relentless in their thieving ways...

....of course, not all the gulls were stealing fish. Those closest to me and farthest from the mergansers were diving head first into the water to catch their own dinners. Here a group of juvenile Herring Gulls were trying their luck at fishing...