I've had to drive in to a client site more often than I had to before, so to save money, I started parking in a new location that had a better "early bird" rate. 

This one is different because its a parking hi-rise, rather than a basement parking lot of a tower... so, true to form, I drove to the topmost level - in a basement, I'll go to the bottom-most.  I noticed the roof level was closed, so I parked one level below.

Since I parked near the ramp to the next floor, I decided to take a look up there, and check out the view from up above.

I went to the edge, and noticed a couple of guys on the roof of the building across the street, which is a hotel, working on the roof.  I took a picture, then caught something out of the corner of my eye, as if something had just missed hitting me. 

I instinctively ducked a bit, and looked to see what had caused me to jump.

It was a sea gull.  Now that I'd seen the bird flying around me, I also heard it squawking in a way I hadn't heard one yap before... it wasn't the familiar call of the gull.

It swooped within a few feet of my head, then flare up and return for another quick run, then fly off for a bit and, with a yell, swoop back down, head leveled, looking right at me...

 
It was a pretty ominous sight. 

As I stood there, the dives got closer, and I heard another one start the odd chant, and begin to come down from above...

It was like a scene out of the movie, "Birds".

I walked around a bit, gauging its response, and noticed where they were the most concerned, and where they seemed it to be trying to keep me from.

As I made my way toward where they didn't want me to be, they were pretty unhappy with me.

Its surprising how ominous a seagull looks when its coming strait at you... :-)

 
Eventually, I got far enough up the ramp that I could see over the rail... and I saw what they were guarding...

A little chick, hidden in the shadows... It all quickly made sense.

They were using the top of the building as a nesting area.

 

I snapped a few pics, then slowly backed back down the ramp, and made my way underneath, and went on my way to the Client site.

When I drove out, I asked the guy at the gate how long they've had the roof closed for the chick.  He said it was long enough to notice the lost revenue...

Gulls are classified as migratory water fowl, and are protected under Federal and State law, and while they wouldn't SEEM to fit that category, they apparently do, so its a Federal offense to disturb (as in remove or destroy) a nest site.

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