The season is almost over.
During the morning I spotted numerous fledgling gulls in the air, calling loudly as they pursued their parents. Several of the nests are now empty – no fledglings, no adults.
Another week or two will and young gulls will be scattered around the city.
This adult was calling atop a building near Crossfit Nest. After less than 30 seconds a young gull landed and the parent regurgitated a meal for it.
Yesterday I ventured out to Spanish Banks at low tide, secretly hoping to encounter some of the Elegant Terns that were recently sighted nearby. I found no terns and ended up with wet feet and muddier than usual – but I was able to spend some time with small flocks of Western & Least sandpipers.
Sandpipers are tiny birds, and Least Sandpipers are the smallest of them all – measuring 13-15 cm from bill-tip to tail, and weighing 19-30 grams (around the same as a AA battery!). Collectively known as peeps, they can be challenging to identify. The greenish-yellow legs are one of the field marks for these birds.
The air was heavy with smoke, the sunrise smeared into hazy tangerine. Remnants of trees flowing through in suspended rivers from the burning west.
Instead of the Anthropocene, Stephen Pyne suggests we have entered the Pyrocene: an epoch shaped by human-caused fire (including fossil fuels). His book The Pyrocene: How We Created an Age of Fire and What Happens Next changed the way I think about fire.
In the smoke, the gulls continue their lives. Now that we’re later in the season, some birds are fledging while other nests I missed are suddenly obvious. There’s a significant amount to get through, so let’s start.
Another weeks brings yet more changes…
We finally saw chicks at this nest last week – there were three then, but on this pass I only spotted one. Although the precipice the nest is on conjures up depressing thoughts, I’m hopeful the other two chicks crawled around behind those vents and that’s why we can’t see them.
