for the birds: lifebird!

"Hmmm.  What's that gull over there?  It's got a dark back and it's head looks black too."  My hands grab the binoculars, and bring them up to my eyes to see the mysterious bird closer.  "Its taken flight.  What is it?  It is making a wheep sound.  That doesn't sounds like a gull.  It's coming closer."  A little rush of excitement comes as the three birds come close and I realize I will be able to identity the bird.  I shout, "Lifebird!"  My wife looks on in humored amusement as I punch my fist in the air.

The long, slim, flat red bill with a black head means that it can be no other bird: it is the American oystercatcher.  It is the first time I have seen an oystercatcher, and five of them at that.  The whole time as I watched the five of them, they flew in circles around the seashore, being very noisy – in keeping with their behavioral characteristics. 

Oh, and I saw a mockingbird for the first time, too.  It was just your run-of-the-mill day at the ocean.