Caught in the act

I went down town this afternoon for a paper and one or two other things, hoping for a Blip from somewhere. It's another dull day, grey skies, quite windy, especially down at the front.

I often come back along the seafront in the hope of seeing something exciting, but apart from a few breaking waves I didn't see much today. Then I noticed a couple of hooded crows picking up what I assumed were small shellfish, flying up 20 or 30 feet and letting them go, in the hope, I assume, that it would break. I've seen gulls doing this, but not crows! I'm not sure how effective it was, as the beach is mostly small stones and seaweed, but this pair kept on at it and I kept on trying to catch them at it!

I had to take a number of pictures before I managed to catch the shell in the picture. Here's a before and after image!