I headed back down to Plymouth yesterday and when I arrived, it of course clouded up and the wind picked up out of the NW at about 30MPH...non stop.

I had intended to shoot tern and plover chicks on this day, but they were obviously buried in the dune grasses: I saw none and they would have been instantly swept away buy the almost liquid like flow of sand along the surface of the beach.

Freezing and a bit frustrated, I lit up a cigar and contemplated what I was going to do. I was a mile from the cottage and there wasn't another soul in sight for as far as I could see, which meant not only were there no avian chicks to watch, but no human ones as well!

Suddenly I heard what truly appeared to be someone laughing at me rather loudly. I looked around and saw nothing but gulls nearby. It was then that I realized a pair of laughing gulls were adjacent to the flock of what I'll call regular gulls sitting on the beach.

I watched for some time and noted that they acted rather friendly towards one another in a weird sort of way. One would laugh just like you or I and toss it's head back, Within a few moments the other would follow.

This went on for some time until one of them just up and flew off, leaving it's partner looking rather lost....and calling out....

The bird which had left returned and the partners greeted each other with a little kiss (seemingly)....

Things got a bit more interesting after this point and a new display began...coupled with a lot of very human like laughing...

Now is the point where things got a bit different that what I'm used to seeing with the tern breeding sequences which I've been shooting....

First...rather than offering a shiny sand lancet or other trinket to it's potential mate, one of these birds did a little teasingly pecking at it's partners bill and when it opened...stuck it's head inside!

After a bit of noisy banter and some trembling on the part of the bird which had a head stuck down it's throat...out came the beautiful mating gift.....which was accepted and consumed in an instant....

Things really moved to the next level after this as he hopped on top, seemingly before she anticipated his arrival....

As it seemed he missed waiting for her typical bowed acceptance posture, she turned her head as if to ask just what the hell he was doing....

Evidently giving in to either his explanation or his actions, she lowered her head and lifted her back in the traditional manner and breeding commenced in earnest.

This particular male was quite full of himself and took full advantage of this situation. He attended to his duties for much longer than the typical bird mating endeavor.....

Not only was I getting exhausted from watching at this point, but he apparently was getting a bit winded himself....

I think that she sensed that he was going to give himself a heart attack and with a wiggle of her tail and a little side step, she did him the favor of knocking him off of his mount...

I watched a he sat there for the longest time. She on the other hand headed down to the edge of the water for a bit of a post breeding cleanup....

Please take a look at the images which follow, as they chronicle this behavior