“Cawing” all seagulls! Download There are more than two dozen species of gulls living in North America. Some people might dismiss them as just “seagulls.” But not the people of Port Orchard, a small town on Washington State’s Puget Sound. Each year, hundreds of people gather at the town’s waterfront in late May for the annual Seagull Calling Festival. Contestants — most of them in grade school — chirp, caw, and flap their way down the beach. Transcript:  BirdNote® “Seagull” Calling Contest Written and Recorded by Jason Saul This is BirdNote. [Sounds of Washington State gulls — Glaucous-winged, Western...] There are more than two dozen species of gulls living in North America. Some people might dismiss them as just “seagulls.” But not the people of Port Orchard, a small town on Washington’s Puget Sound. [Crowd and Caw] In Port Orchard, gulls are celebrated. Each year, hundreds of people gather at the town’s waterfront in late May for the annual Seagull Calling Festival. [Caw] Contestants — most of them in grade school — chirp, caw, and flap their way down the beach. [Caw] The town’s mascot is Seymour the Seagull. He’s at the festival, too. [Seymour’s half-hearted CAW] Organizers say they respect the ecological niche gulls fill — and it’s just fun for the kids. [Caw] The gulls along the beach definitely look amused. [Caw] For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein. Support for BirdNote comes from Bloomsbury, a publisher of natural history books and birding guides. Critical Critters by Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy is available now.                                                                                ### Bird sounds recorded by BirdNote’s Jason Saul. BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler. Producer: John Kessler Managing Producer: Jason Saul Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone © 2017 Tune In to Nature.org   October 2017   Narrator: Michael Stein ID#            gull-09-2017-10-09     gull-09 http://www.wec.ufl.edu/birds/SurveyDocs/species_list.pdf Air date: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 © Jacob McGinnis CC Related bird:  Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) U.S. Region: Pacific Northwest Topics & Themes:  festival, humor, vocalization