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1/24/12 2:10 PM | Johan Lindahl
Hungry seagulls eager for a feeding frenzy provided an unscheduled diversion at the Australian Open as they circled the showcase court during play, waiting to swoop down later for a buffet of tasty insects.
Mother Nature's own little drama was played out as Novak Djokovic beat Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round.
A local scientist explained to Melbourne's Herald-Sun that the moths and crickets who live around the grounds are drawn to the lights at night. Their presence makes the area a happy hunting ground for hungry birds in the never-ending cycle of nature.
Flocks of the gulls could be seen in the night sky circling the open roof of the arena, but none had the nerve to duck in for a bite. They would more normally dive bomb when the lights went out for the night to partake of a post-midnight dinner.
Meanwhile, on court, ballkids and players as were kept busy between points, swatting, capturing or squashing the insects.
The phenomenon is not new but can be expected to carry on until the major wraps up - at night- at the weekend.
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We only had one photo in the database of a bird. :D But I changed it to a non-descript aussie open stock photo.
Personally, I liked the pigeon better. :D
cherylmurray , 1/24/12 4:37 PM
lol
bleck , 1/24/12 4:45 PM
What happened to the bird? Geez, these seagulls are so hungry they're even eating pigeons.
alex , 1/24/12 4:48 PM
Didn't you watch Finding Nemo? Those Aussie seagulls will eat ANYTHING.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!
You know, you don't usually expect to run a story about a bird on a tennis website. I'm sort of impressed that we had ANY bird pictures.....
cherylmurray , 1/24/12 4:52 PM
lol cheryl, but what if you ran an article on Andy and illustrated it with a photo of Greg Rusedski! There would be an outcry. That gull felt the same...;)
deuce , 1/24/12 5:06 PM
If you're looking for a picture to preview the muzz-nishikori match, I'm sure you could easily find one of Andy eating sushi ;)
alex , 1/24/12 5:55 PM
bring back the pigeon photo, please
RickyDimon , 1/24/12 6:11 PM
seagulls ate it.
alex , 1/24/12 6:14 PM
The pigeons are gone, Ricky. :( Deuce made me change it. *sniff*
cherylmurray , 1/24/12 7:58 PM
I blame the birds for Djokovic losing that set. I mean, he was playing well, up 3:0 in the third when they had to stop the match for a few minutes hence Djoko losing focus. Damn birds. ;)
nemanja230690 , 1/24/12 8:29 PM
What about a picture of a Gul(bis) ........
deuce , 1/24/12 8:45 PM
i'm pretty sure those have all been deleted since they won't be needed anymore
RickyDimon , 1/24/12 9:02 PM
Poor Ernie. Abused at every turn.
cherylmurray , 1/24/12 9:04 PM
Even bird-ich would do on here.
alex , 1/24/12 9:16 PM
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Um, not a photo of a gull, Johan. Surely you can do better than that?
deuce , 1/24/12 4:20 PM