Little Buddy

So I was sitting on a pier in Halifax harbour Saturday afternoon, enjoying a snack. It was this pier, to be exact:

The man sitting one picnic table to my left had his camera out and was taking photos of the seagulls as the played in the water. I feel like there are instances where once a camera is pulled out, all of the showy animals in the area appear at once and they all have got preening down to an art. This was one of those times.

There were a number of birds who were slowly making their way down the pier towards him. I was sitting there with my camera (I had finished my snack at this point) where I heard a noise behind my right shoulder. I turned and found a friend:

Less than two feet away from me, was a bird who seemed intent on having a chat. I told him he was pretty and no, I didn't have any food to give him. Then we were rudely interupted by some tourists, wanting me to take their picture (actually, they're the people down the end of the pier of the first photo in this post). And my buddy flew away.

I'm not sure if this was the same bird who, moments before, walked up to me to sing a little song. He then pooped on the pier and, looking quite pleased with himself, wandered off. One of life's more random moments.

And if you're wondering why I will admit to having a chat with a bird in public, I will refer you to the behaviour of my father. Last I talked with him he was telling me a story about a squirrel with a huge gut he saw in Queen's Park near his work (the story was more about how the squirrel sat with his hands folded over his gut, watching the world go by like some old man). So I come by it honestly.  

You can tell that the seasons are changing and I feel like winter is coming. I can see from the two weeks between visits to the harbour that the tourist industry is slowly winding down. For example, where I found Theodore Tugboat before, I found a big empty space instead:

And today the weather is absolutely terrible- a potent combination of rain and strong, cold winds that makes the window panes rattle. I had plans to go to the movies today, but only made it as far as the end of my street before some car drove through a huge puddle and sent a small tidal wave directly into me. I was not impressed and thought a mini marathon of Top Gear in my room was more to my liking.