I took a breather from the gardening chores and sat in one of our garden seats to watch the world around me.

  I noticed our resident wood pigeon perched on our television aerial, preening its feathers and keeping watch for any rival intruders.

  I had scattered a few crumbs of stale bread on the lawn beneath our bird feeders. A wary, solitary gull circled the garden several times before plucking up the courage to swoop down and feed on the crumbs. To my surprise, I noticed this gull was balancing and hopping around on one leg. I doubted it was actually one-legged, as I had read that sometimes gulls tuck one leg beneath their body. When this interesting gull had taken its fill, it promptly flew up to the rooftop and continued to balance on the same leg. Another gull arrived and perched nearby on two legs; my one-legged friend hopped along the roof a short distance away.

  Meanwhile, a robin arrived and perched on the adjoining fence; he was almost immediately joined by a juvenile robin who kept a safe distance.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise as a third seagull flew into the garden and aggressively attacked the gulls on the roof.

At this point, I continued with my chores.